Knight's Calling
by band20
Summary: A marine that has hidden his mutant abilities now emerges trying to find his own way in the world. After rescuing the Brotherhood what will be the Master's next move.
1. Warrior

This is the usual line saying I don't own anything except for my own characters being Reaper, Brandon, and Alan. If I did own the entire thing well I would not be writing here now would I?

Also this is a completely redone version that I couldn't have completed without Agent-G's advice. Hopefully the improvements are helpful and I implemented them correctly into the story.

Characters:

Name: Brandon Ayers

Codename?

Allegiance: Xavier

Height: 5'11

Hair/eyes: black/brown

Powers: Controls energy in all forms and can use it for energy blasts, an energy barrier, and to fly by forming an energy bubble. His powers rely on the fact that his hands must be placed in the direction he wants the energy to go.

Characteristics: An easy going young man Brandon is the grandson of a U.S. Marine general. A marine himself, Brandon aspires to follow in his grandfather's footsteps. His grandfather helped train Brandon so he could use his power and used his connection to keep Brandon hidden from the government. Brandon's mother and father died during accident years ago, and the rest of his history will be learned as we go.

Name?

Codename: Reaper

Allegiance?

Powers: Super strength, flight, enhanced senses, tritanium sickle

Characteristics: An odd crazy mutant who desires death and destruction. His only goal seems to be chaos, and his true master seems to be remaining behind the scenes. He and Brandon have a violent history due to what occurred at the Nuclear Research Institute two years after Apocalypse's defeat.

Nuclear Research Institute- Location lower Pennsylvania.

Brandon Ayers picked up his belongings and walked through his grandfather's house at the NRI. Being the grandson of the commanding military officer, the young man quickly readied himself in his marine uniform. It was time to report in to his commander or grandfather as it was for his morning work.

Walking down the sidewalk he saluted as a pair of majors walked past him and continued on his journey to the office.

"Good Afternoon, Brandon," said a small marine clerk behind her desk. "Is my grandfather in his office, I need to see him about something." Brandon replied curtly and smiled as he waited for an answer.

General Henry Ayers was one of the top dogs in the Marine Corps, one spot away from joining the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the Pentagon. Not only being Brandon's commanding officer, he also determined the work load, granted that Brandon had other work to deal with as well. For the past few years his grandfather had trained him in controlling his abilities.

The young lady merely nodded and Brandon knocked twice and waited for a bellow telling him to enter.

"Good morning, sir what are my new orders," Brandon spoke as he saluted the senior officer.

"You are going to be assigned guard duty for the new experimental material that was being worked on in Area 51. Report to section 12 for the specifics of your assignment," General Ayers stated.

"Report in after your shift is over, I think its time we went over an improved training schedule."

Brandon nodded and saluted as he did an about face and left the office building.

"Hey Johnson, you up for the usual after our shifts," Brandon asked a marine he ran into on his way to section 12.

"Sure, but I got to run, I'm assigned section 5 security today. So long as I don't lose 50 dollars to you again," Johnson stated as he began to run down the street.

Brandon nodded and continued moving to sector twelve or the security headquarters for the base.

The man who ran the department was a career marine and the second in command of the base.

"Well here you are, at least you are on time, this time anyway," Major Thompson, the head of security, stated.

"Great I drew the security center again; somebody must really hate me somewhere." Brandon muttered to himself.

The security center was a plain white building made out of concrete designed to withstand some major strikes. It was also the worse assignment on the base, because it was just sitting there telling others were to go during a disturbance, Brandon had unfortunately been assigned to the monitors.

Brandon sat there bringing up the various cameras, as he watched over the compound.

"Not exactly the thrilling life I dreamed of when I joined the corp." He stated and the other marine nodded agreeing with him.

Brandon turned and pushed a few buttons bringing up the camera viewing the new material and watched as it was unloaded.

Three hours later and absolutely nothing had happened on the base besides the normal activities.

"Move it people, I want this stuff unloaded and be quick about it," General Ayers stated as he looked over the procedure.

Normally he wouldn't be present for a mundane task, but he had to take possession of the computer disks that were on board. The fact was he was there waiting rather impatiently for these disks so they could be locked up in his office.

"Sir these papers require your signature before the transfer can be complete," an army lieutenant stated as he handed him a clipboard.

The general was getting ready to sign the sheets when the perimeter alarm went off.

Brandon couldn't believe what he was seeing; an unknown man had just broken through the first perimeter.

"What the hell, is he doing," Brandon commented watching as the man flew over the electrified perimeter fence.

"Son of a, it's a mutant and he's breaking through the concrete barrier." The other marine stated pushing the alarm alerting a couple hundred marines of an uninvited guest.

"Activate the barrier seals for the research area," Major Thompson stated as he ran in opening a fire arms locker.

Brandon shook his head as marines attempted to stop the unwanted intruder, the fact was that they were being massacred. Those that got to close fell prey to a wicked metal scythe or just flat out being overpowered.

"I can't let this continue, it's not right, I should be able to stop it with my own abilities," Brandon thought to himself picking up a communication headset.

"General Ayers, come in," Brandon stated as he tried to reach his grandfather only to receive static.

Brandon shook his head moving to the door ignoring Major Thompson's demands that he return to his post.

"Where are you going marine," Thompson barked at Brandon over the headset.

"To put a stop to this, he's in sector 5 now and that's only a few minutes away from the main center," Brandon stated as he removed the headset and started to run.

Brandon ran full speed towards the area that he heard multiple gunshots and screams. This place had quickly turned into a war zone with marines injured, dying, and some even dead. The floor was literally dripping with blood and Brandon continued going until he ran into the ugliest man he had ever met.

"That's enough, who the hell are you?" Brandon demanded speaking directly to the intruder.

The intruder released a marine watching this new comer; he hoped that he would be more of a challenge than these pitiful insects.

"Those that stand in my way will perish," the foreign man stated taking flight heading straight for Brandon.

Brandon stood there throwing an energy blast and hitting dead on target. The man stopped only for a moment recovering from the attack.

"So you are different, not like these insects," the man motioned to the injured and dead marines.

"I don't know why you are here and really I don't care any more," Brandon said as he charged up sending energy through the atmosphere.

"So you intend to protect these insects," the man laughed smiling at the impending challenge.

Brandon couldn't believe his eyes as the man lifted a three ton truck and threw it at him. Raising an energy barrier, Brandon focused hard making sure that the truck would not go through. The next thing Brandon knew the truck had bounced off landing upside down on top of some bodies and the man was right in front of him.

A punch later and Brandon had been sent flying back towards some injured marines. Brandon stood there and spit up some blood from the punch he had just received.

"Great, one hit and I'm already bleeding and at least one my ribs are injured," Brandon muttered to himself as he attempted to stand.

"You okay, Brandon?" A marine questioned attempting to move towards him.

"Just great, excuse me for a moment," Brandon said wiping off some blood and then charging at his opponent.

Brandon watched as he took flight again, but this time Brandon used his energy barrier to prevent him from moving in one direction and forcing him back towards him.

"Fool the weak can not help you nor can you help them," the man stated as he picked up another truck.

This time the truck was thrown in the direction of some injured marines and Brandon used his left hand to bring up a barrier to protect them.

"If any of you can leave, now would be a good time," Brandon commented to the marines as he threw some energy blasts at the man.

The other man merely picked up a small crate and threw at Brandon. Brandon dodged to the right and rolled over using his right arm to bring up another barrier. Brandon watched as the man flew up and then charged directly at the barrier with energy crackling as the barrier sparked.

"You should give up fool, there is no future for these insects," the man stated as he bounced off the barrier and recovered by flying into the air.

Brandon stood there panting he was exhausted and to make matters worse his opponent knew it. The attacks and barriers were taking their toll on Brandon physically.

"Whatever," Brandon replied as he desperately flung energy blasts at the man.

The man dodged the remainder of the attacks moving closer and closer as Brandon prepared for his final effort to stop him.

"This game has ended fool, goodbye." The man stated as he punched the last barrier Brandon had managed to place inches in front of him.

Brandon watched as the barrier broke and his neck was grabbed by the man. The next thing he knew the man had thrown him into a nearby parked truck and he placed his hand on his head as blood started to flow from the injury he had received to his head.

"You too are not worth my time, it is time to end your existence along with these other insects," the man replied grinning sadistically.

What the man did next baffled Brandon as he waited for the final blow to occur, his vision starting to blur due to the amount of blood he had lost. He watched as the man stood there for a moment and Johnson running towards the man firing an assault rifle.

"Brandon, you okay, get up and get out of…" Johnson started only to be cut off.

The man just looked over, and flew straight at Johnson grabbing him by his neck. Brandon watched as he moved attempting to stand up again and continue the fight, but in reality this battle was over. He watched as Johnson fell to the floor, slumping onto the ground his neck broken.

Brandon passed out hoping that someone would come and help them.

General Henry Ayers stood there with the remaining military personnel that had managed to make it into the research area.

In a flash the man had broken through the titanium wall and was flying towards the cargo transport.

"You insect will give me the computer disks or I will crush all life on this base," the man stated as he grabbed a frightened marine.

"They are in the second container," the man stammered before his neck was snapped.

"Open fire," General Ayers commanded as he unloaded his clip trying to shoot the man.

The man just dodged the bullets or worse yet bounced right off of him, and he continued to move towards the container.

"You are lucky insects, I do not have time for you any longer, he is impatient and that distraction took to long," the man stated as he grabbed the box with the computer disks.

"Who in the hell are you," General Ayers stated firing more shots at the man.

"I am Reaper insect, the one who is destined to destroy all that oppose me," was all that was heard as he flew through the roof.

General Ayers stood there in shock, he had seen what his grandson could do, but this was insane. Bullets weren't effective and it seemed that nothing could affect the man.

"Get started on securing the perimeter and helping the injured. Get me in contact with the security room now," the General bellowed as the marines began to collect their injured.

Two marines stood there trying to and eventually getting a signal through to the security center. While most of the transmission was buried in static, they heard a report from one of the sectors that had been badly hit.

"General, there are injured men and civilians in sector 5. One of the injured is Brandon sir," the marine stated after hearing the transmission.

The men watched as the general stood there and motioned for a medical and security team to follow him. He was in a full blown run as soon as they had reached a clear hallway.

The sights that welcomed him and the teams that accompanied him were startling to say the least. Blood was everywhere and so where bodies of marines that had fought valiantly. Looking over he found Brandon propped up against a truck, two surviving marines attempting to assist him.

"Medical team help anyone that is alive, security team secure the perimeter and use the few cell phones we have to stay in contact." General Ayers stated as the men saluted and carried out his orders.

He walked over to Brandon who stood there held up by a truck with some make shift bandages.

He nodded to the two soldiers and the two medics who had followed him went to work.

"He saved us sir," the two men spoke, "without him he would have slaughtered everyone. We did the best we could to assist him."

"Yes that's all well and good marine, but unfortunately I have a decision to make now," the General said as he watched his grandson being treated by the medics.

"I want a security team to escort him and transfer him to the field hospital that has been set up, also get me a court reporter," the General stated as he looked over the carnage.

He walked off giving out orders and attempting to get at least some semblance of order back.

Meanwhile Charles Xavier felt the battle between the two mutants and had already assembled the X-Men.

"Our mission will be at the Nuclear Research Institute," he began, "a battle between the military and two mutants just broke out and ended there. One mutant fought to protect the marines guarding the base, while the other caused more chaos than ever before."

"A mutant fought for the military, your kidding right professor?" Scott said noticing the professor shaking his head.

"No Scott, this is no joke he apparently is a marine who had managed to hide his abilities," the Professor commented as Logan walked into the room.

"So what's his or her name Chuck?" Logan asked as he leaned up against the wall.

"His name is Brandon Ayers, and we will have to move quickly in order to assist him. Logan, Scott, Jean, Kitty, Hank, and Kurt will accompany me on this mission." Professor Xavier replied as he motioned for everyone he mentioned to follow him.

Logan stood there for a moment, the name Ayers it meant something, he knew them somehow. It wasn't like his normal memories with bad connotations; it was a good memory like something one of them had done for him. He shook his head and continued on heading with the others too the Blackbird.

It was a short flight for everyone with very little conversation, the fact was the military wasn't exactly someone they had a professional relationship. The fact was they were expecting the worse from the remaining military personnel.

General Ayers looked over the reports he had been given, 117 casualties, 58 injuries, and 1 prisoner.

"You disobeyed your orders Brandon, there is no pleasant way out of this," he commented as a marine came up to him and saluted.

"Sir an aircraft has entered the restricted zone, we believe according to the intelligence we have that it belongs to Charles Xavier." The marine commented as the general nodded his head.

"Let them land and notify me when they are five minutes out. Contact the plane and have them land here and have three security details meet me there that will be all marine" the general stated as an idea popped into his head.

"This could work in your favor Brandon, considering the position you have put me in," he mumbled as he started to walk towards the area that the Blackbird would land in.

It wasn't very long when the jet appeared and began its approach landing right in the area that had been designated. The marines watched as the ramp opened, and the General motioned for them to stand at ease for the moment. They all watched as a man in a wheelchair was levitated down by one of his students.

"Hello I am Charles Xavier…" he began only to be interrupted by an older man with grey hair.

"I know full well who you are and why you are here, my name is General Henry Ayers, would you please come with me and only you Charles Xavier. I can guarantee that you and anyone who accompanies you would not and will not be harmed," He spoke motioning to a set up tent that was functioning as his headquarters.

The two began moving as many of the marines watched them very carefully. Logan stood there watching, it had been a while since he had seen soldiers be so antsy. The marines were literally pacing back and forth never taking their eyes off their guests.

"This was quite a battle, look at how many buildings are destroyed," Scott commented as Logan nodded growling at the marines outside.

"You must forgive my men, professor; they are very antsy about anyone being here." General Ayers spoke he continued into tent.

"To be honest Professor, I need a favor from you. My grandson is gifted with great abilities as you well know, but now he will be facing a court martial for disobeying a commanding officer and dereliction of duty. A deal has already been reached for an honorable discharge based upon his actions here today," General Ayers spoke as he reached for a photograph.

"He won't be welcomed here despite his actions and he has no where else to go, please consider taking him with you back to your institute. He is in stable medical condition so he can be transported now. "He continued as he stared at the picture.

"I understand General, but you must understand it is his choice," Charles stated as he leaned over in his wheelchair.

"No it isn't, at least not right now, my final order as Brandon's commanding officer is for him to accompany you to your institute. Besides there is someone coming who will not be as kind as you are, and I refuse to allow my only grandson to fall into that bastards hands. His actions are less than honorable and I desire a better life for my grandson, and he can't have that if that bastard gets his hands on him. Once there his discharge will take affect and he will be free to make his own choice," he replied as he looked over some papers.

"If you could give this box to him I would appreciate it, and I will have him transferred to your jet in less than an hour," Ayers spoke handing him a box listed Ayers, Brandon.

Two marines appeared who seemed to have orders to escort the professor back to the jet. Charles couldn't believe his ears as two marines escorted him back to the blackbird.

"You aren't to leave your plane, he will be transferred in 20 minutes" one of them spoke.

The other marine waited though and bent over to whisper something to the Professor.

"Tell him thanks, were sorry for what happened, he's a good man." The marine whispered and saluted as he turned to leave.

"How'd it go Chuck," Logan asked as soon as he returned.

"It was interesting to say the least; we will be having a guest for a little while and have Hank prepare the medical bed. We also are restricted to here until he arrives and then we will be free to leave," Charles stated as the others watched the marines moving outside.

Brandon woke up as he was being carried on a stretcher by four marines. The four nodded to him and he replied with the same nod. The medics and doctor had given him some drugs to ease the pain; the only problem was he could barely move. He just watched with his eyes as the four marines carried his stretcher towards a jet. They were stopped by General Ayers and Major Thompson before they could continue.

"Brandon Ayers your orders are to accompany these people to the Xavier Institute, after which you will receive a honorable discharged from the Marines since your actions weight heavily upon you conduct. Do you understand these orders?" Major Thompson spoke as he motioned for the men to continue.

Brandon nodded and watched as a group of 40 marines gathered lining up forming a corridor.

"Salute," Henry Ayers bellowed out as the men immediately went into action.

Brandon was carried to the jet and the four marines walked up the ramp removing his restraints and moving him carefully to the medical bed.

The four saluted and Brandon watched as they walked down the ramp and it started to close. A tear slipped down his face as he could no longer see the marines. The marines fell back away from the plane and saluted again as it begun to take off.

"Logan what are they doing?" Scott commented watching as the plane began to take off.

"They are paying their respects kid because of what he did here today. Marines take care of their own personnel and they still consider him one," Logan stated as he transferred control to Scott.

It took the plane a few minutes and Logan touched a few buttons readying the plane for the return trip.

Brandon stood there white eyed at the man with blue fur who was caring for him. He would have went into shock if the drugs he had been given weren't taking full effect.

"Thank you," was all he managed to say before the drugs that he been given before went into effect.

Next chapter: A New Day

Brandon wakes up after a short trip in the Institutes' medical ward, and faces a difficult decision now that he has been discharged from the Marines. How will the other students react to a professional soldiers appearance and how serious are his injuries.


	2. New Day

Thanks to Agent G for his review, and to respond to my lack of describing Reaper and General Ayers. Reaper will get his own chapter very soon giving a full description, you'll find out who and what he is then. As for the General that was my mistake, I never really thought about it. As for age Brandon is 20 years old and Scott and Jean are 21. Kitty and most of the others are 18-17 years old with the exception of Jaime.

Brandon slept peacefully on the ride back to the institute while Dr. McCoy went to work on his injuries. The professor wheeled in to see how things were going as McCoy pulled up some gauze to wrap around the stitches on Brandon's head.

"How is he doing, Hank?" Charles asked as Hank finished placing the gauze.

"Well he has a bruised rib, a concussion, and lots of cuts and bruises. The medics seemed to have taken care of the cuts and bruises. I just finished up some of the work; I will go into more detail when we arrive back at the institute." Hank replied as he wiped off his hands with some disinfecting wipes.

"Oh yes, as I understand it you have a box of his belongings, you may want to put those in there." Hank continued as he pointed to a pair of dog tags, a wallet, and a knife.

Charles nodded picking up the tray they were on and carefully placed them in Brandon's box. The box was filled with some pictures, clothes, discharge papers, and a letter that had been carefully placed on top. Charles smiled to himself as he closed the box, his only question being who the man that General Ayers feared was and why he did so.

As they began what was a normal landing for them, Charles had Scott, Logan, Kurt and Hank carry the young man into the medical ward. There were a lot of things for Hank to do as he shut the door and went to work on his new patient.

Hank smiled as he went upstairs for some coffee, it had been a long day. The young man would probably sleep for at least two or three days after all he had been through. It was decided however, that just in case he did wake up that students would work in pairs watching over him.

A day and a half had passed as Brandon continued to heal from his injuries. Machines beeped and an IV ran from his right arm keeping his body going.

Piotr and Kitty watched the man carefully as he seemed to sleep peacefully.

"I wonder like when he will wake up?" Kitty questioned as she watched him sleep.

"I don't know Katya, he needs his rest he has a lot of injuries," Piotr stated as the man began to breathe harder.

"You should see Scott, he so jealous about having competition from someone who was actually in the military," Kitty replied remembering Scott's expression at having to watch over the injured ex marine.

"Da, I wonder how he remained hidden so long, I thought the military ran blood test to see if an individual was a mutant," Piotr said as the young man seemed to calm down.

"Who knows, but I'm glad our shift is like almost over," Kitty replied as Amara and Kurt walked into the room.

The two looked at the man as he seemed to be resting peacefully at the moment. Kitty and Piotr nodded to each other leaving the watch to Kurt and Amara.

"Well he looks completely out if it," Amara stated as she looked over at Kurt.

"Ja, he seems to be resting well after so many things happened," Kurt softly replied.

"Don't you have a date with Amanda tonight, why don't you get out of here, he's not getting up anytime soon," Amara said as Kurt grinned and teleported away.

"Besides you wouldn't know who was here anyway," Amara said speaking to Brandon as he slept peacefully.

Amara paced back and forth it had only been an hour, the boredom starting to bother her. She couldn't believe her ears as the young man started to wake up.

Brandon eyes fluttered open as his mind tried to catch up to what had occurred. He immediately sat straight up quickly surveying the room until his eyes found a young lady staring right at him. He sat there tears starting to flow remembering the battle he had with that man.

"Johnson, I'm sorry." Brandon said as the girl had moved right next to him.

She walked over to him grabbing his hand just holding it as he searched the room. He was scared and rapidly searching the room only to find a girl dressed in civilian clothes.

"Its ok you are at the Xavier Institute, we brought you here after the battle," Amara cooed attempting to put the man at ease.

"Where, where are the other marines, are they here too?" Brandon asked her as she shook her head no.

"The ones that survived including your grandfather are at NRI," Amara stated as she remembered things that she had been told to tell him if he woke up. She contacted the Professor by his telepathy and waited holding Brandon's hand as she waited for them.

Brandon sat there watching as this girl held his hand attempting to keep him calm. He just sat there letting his tears stop as he heard others approaching.

Professor Xavier and Mr. McCoy moved into the room as the door opened. They looked puzzled for a moment seeing as how two people were to be standing watch.

"Brandon it is good to see that you are awake, do you remember everything that happened?" The professor stated as he wheeled over to the bed that Brandon was sitting on.

Memories flooded Brandon's head as he tried to remember what had happened he then froze remembering what had happened last.

"Yes, unfortunately, I assume that discharge was not a dream," Brandon stated as he lay back down on the bed.

"I am very sorry, but it was quite interesting when I felt that battle. Even without Cerebro I managed to feel the battle you went through," Charles Xavier stated watching as Brandon laid there tilting his head.

"Who are you people," Brandon said motioning his head towards the three people in the room.

"My apologies, I am Charles Xavier and you are at my institute for the gifted. This is my friend and the person that has cared for you for the past day and a half, Dr. Hank McCoy. Last this is one my students Amara Aquilla, a member of our New Mutant squad." Charles Xavier spoke watching as Brandon took it all in.

He looked at Hank and started to remember something, the moment on the plane.

"You are the one I saw on the plane aren't you?" Brandon stated as he looked directly at Dr. McCoy.

He saw a nod and watched as the young lady was about to leave the room. Brandon moved his hand up to stop her from leaving the room.

"Thank you for your help, I'll repay the favor someday," he stated as a package was handed to him and she left the room.

"Your grandfather, General Ayers, asked me to give this to you. I'll be sure to talk to you more later when you feel better," Xavier said as he also went to leave.

Brandon shook his head and opened the package. He picked up a set of papers sitting on top, it was his discharge papers. He didn't bother with any of the other belongings just motioned for it to be taken away. It just wasn't something Brandon wanted to look at right now.

"Do you think I could get up and walk around a little bit?" Brandon asked as he watched the man go to work on one of his other projects.

"I suppose so, but don't do anything rash. The only injury that is of concern is the bruised rib but that should heal in a few days, and you do have a lot of stitches especially on that forehead of yours. What happened there?" Hank stated as he removed the IV, helped him up, and lastly handed him a change of clothes.

"My head had a run in with a truck, and the truck won," Brandon stated as he took the clothes and stumbled towards a changing area.

Brandon changed quietly looking at the bruises and stitches in a mirror. He shook his head as he slowly put his shirt on making sure he didn't disturb any of his injuries. He also donned his Marine Corp sweat pants usually used in runs. He slid his feet into a pair of sandals deciding to step very slowly. He also took the opportunity to relieve himself in the bathroom.

He came out and was motioned to follow the furry man to an elevator, which lead him up towards a huge house. He took a few steps and looked at the environment that he was in, this place was massive.

"If it's not too much to ask could I get some water, I'm kind of thirsty," Brandon said as the man motioned him to follow him down a hallway, where he heard a lot of voices.

"Did you hear that the soldier woke up today," Bobby stated as everyone else nodded.

"Yeah he looked really banged up when they took him in their a few days ago," Ray replied grabbing another slice of pizza.

"So Amara is he cute? What's he like?" Tabby asked her best friend since she was there when he woke up.

"Well," she started only to stop as Mr. McCoy and Brandon walked into the kitchen. He was handed a glass and he filled it with water drinking it very slowly.

Brandon turned only to see about six people starring at him, he nodded and watched as one of them approached him.

"Are you really a US Marine?" Jaime asked as Brandon took his last drink.

"I was a marine, I was discharged honorably according to the papers I read," Brandon stated moving towards the sink for more water.

"That is so cool, I wish I could join the marines," Jaime replied as Brandon started to drink more water.

"Hey you wouldn't last a day in the Marines, Jaime" Bobby stated with a grin.

"Yeah, you can't even keep up with us," Ray said watching as Jaime started to frown.

Brandon shook his head and put his right hand on Jaime's head causing Jaime to turn and look at him.

"Don't worry about what others tell you is impossible or that you can t do it. Just focus on what you can do and you'll be fine." Brandon stated as he started to move on watching Jaime stick out his tongue at the other boys.

"Amara, since you have already met Brandon, could you take him to the Professor's office," Dr. McCoy said as he left to return to his experiments.

"Follow me," Amara replied smiling as Brandon walked with her down a couple of halls and into an area with an interesting set of doors.

Brandon watched as she didn't even knock, just opened the doors and lead Brandon to the man he had seen earlier.

"Brandon please sit down," Charles continued as two other people entered the room.

Brandon froze looking at one, he walked like a soldier, correction he was a soldier. Brandon stared at him knowing that he was the most dangerous person here.

"Logan, Ororo this is Brandon Ayers," Charles stated as Brandon continued to watch Logan.

"You gotta problem marine," Logan growled as Brandon never took his eyes off of him.

"No but you are a soldier, I can tell by the way you carry yourself. It is only wise to be ready to defend one self even if injured," Brandon returned the two locking eyes.

"Kid you couldn't stop me if I was going to do something," Logan spoke only to be interrupted by the professor.

"Brandon I appreciate your resolve, but should you be walking this soon," Xavier spoke as Brandon merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I hate medical areas besides my only real injuries are these two," Brandon replied as he pointed to a bandage covering his stitches on his head, and a wrap that had been placed around his ribs.

"I'll live its nothing to worry about besides; you said to see you later. That was over an hour and a half ago at my slow walking pace," Brandon continued returning his gaze to Logan.

"As you well know your time in the marines has ended, and I would like it if you would stay here at least for the time being," Xavier answered as Brandon turned his sight towards the professor.

"For the time being, I will comply with that at least until I figure out what I'm going to do now. Besides I owe two people here a favor, I intend to return those favors," Brandon commented as he moved his gaze to Amara.

Brandon smiled she had gone practically unnoticed by the others, but he had been keeping one eye on her.

"Amara could you please show Brandon the way to one of the guest rooms on the male side," Ororo stated as Brandon followed the girl once more.

"This is a nice place you got here; do you like it here Amara?" Brandon asked as he continued the walk towards one of the many guest rooms he assumed.

"Yeah we learn how to control our abilities here, and make a lot of friends too. Granted it isn't very easy we train hard and there are a lot of enemies out there." Amara spoke as she opened the door to an unoccupied room.

"I see so this is like a training school with the exception you might actually get some field experience," Brandon commented as he walked into the room.

He watched as she pulled out some sheets, a blanker, and a pillow out of the otherwise empty closet. He also noted that someone had moved his box out of the medical ward and placed it on the floor next to the desk. Not to mention this was the biggest room he had ever seen, and he was the only person living in there.

"Thanks for the help," Brandon grunted as he looked around the otherwise empty room.

She nodded and left him a note with directions to the dining hall for supper as he unpacked his box. He pulled out two pictures one of him in a marine uniform with his grandfather and another of him and his parents when he was a child. The next thing he noticed was the letter that was sitting there in the box. He got up closing the door before opening it and started to read it.

He placed the letter in between the two picture frames and pulled out the last picture that was in the box. It was him, Johnson, and Fitzgerald, the very last time they had been together before what happened at the NRI. Brandon placed the picture right next to the one of him and his grandfather, pulling out one last thing, his globe and anchor. He threw the box into a corner and started to let tears come down his face as he stared at the picture of his fallen friend.

"You will pay for what you have done, I promise you that. No one will get in my way the next time I find that man," Brandon muttered as he picked up his globe and anchor pin placing it carefully on his desk.

He walked out of his room staring at the ornately decorated mansion. A few suits of armor and paintings lined the hallways. It was an impressive operation for anyone to undertake, not to mention the reaction of the locals.

Brandon continued to walk moving his head side to side carefully watching everything as he walked down the hallway. The fact was this place was massive and Brandon shook his head, he had left Amara's directions back in his room. He watched as two other people emerged from another room laughing at something.

Brandon squinted, he thought he recognized the two, but he didn't know how. It was then the girl spotted him and immediately walked towards him with a rather large smile.

"Like it's so good to see you up and like walking around, I'm Kitty and this is Piotr," the girl said with a high pitched voice.

"Brandon will do, it's a pleasure to meet both of you. I'm a little lost you think you could show me to the mess," Brandon stated as he looked the two over.

"Uh like what's a mess," Kitty responded as Brandon and Piotr shook their heads.

"The kitchen, or wherever you eat," Brandon answered as the two motioned for him to follow.

"So comrade, what do you think of the mansion?" Piotr asked as they walked down the stairs and turned left towards the kitchen.

"Its very big, has a lot of people to, feels just like home without the smell of gunpowder and 400 men running to get food," Brandon replied with a grin.

Brandon smiled this place had that large family atmosphere that mirrored the Marine Corps own family. Marines took care of each other, ate together, passed together, and failed together, also if the occasion called for died together. He smiled as he and the other two walked into a large dining room.

Brandon grabbed a chair sitting down right next to Piotr, watching as the other students started to file into the room. As they filed in, a few carried plates of food as Ororo and Charles entered last.

Well it seems there are a lot more students here than I thought," Brandon whispered to Piotr. "

What Brandon saw next shocked him as the students started using their abilities to get all the food that they wanted on their plates. One was teleporting to and from places, and the one that had called herself Kitty was phasing through people. It was a mess an unorganized mess which was even worse.

"Do they always eat like that," Brandon whispered to Piotr as he nodded an answer.

Brandon grabbed some food that was near by and placed some on his plate. The fact was Brandon was trying not to draw attention when he saw one of the students looked at him weird.

"You got a problem?" Brandon asked to a red haired girl sitting across the table.

She shook her head no, but Brandon had the feeling that something wasn't quite right. It was then that a certain young man wearing red glasses started to glare at him from across the table right next to the red head.

"Hey Piotr, what's his problem, the one with the red glasses?" Brandon whispered to him as he waited for a response.

"His girlfriend is right there comrade, he must not have liked your question," Piotr whispered back as Brandon nodded his head in understanding.

Brandon continued eating despite some starring provided by Scott and a certain person that was sitting down the table with Tabitha and Jubilee.

"Hey Amara, you here," Tabby stated waving her hand in front of her face, only to realize who she was watching.

"Hey Jubes, I think Amara here has a crush on the soldier man," Tabby stated as Amara started to blush at that comment.

"I think your right," Jubilee said watching Amara's reaction as she blushed again.

It was then that Brandon stood up bowing slightly moving towards the door leaving the dining room. He walked slowly up the stairs and went back towards his room. Opening the door Brandon rested on his bed as the door shut behind him.

"I'm just a little tired and being around so many strange people is really difficult," Brandon said as he started to yawn.

A knock at the door disturbed his thoughts as he got up to see who it was. Opening the door he found Piotr there smiling.

"Hello comrade I just wanted to make sure you were ok," Piotr asked checking to see if Brandon made any odd movements.

"I'm fine just a little tired, it's a lot to take in," Brandon stated as he invited the young man in.

Brandon stood there for a second and watched as Piotr went over to the pictures that Brandon had placed on his stand.

"Are these your family, comrade? " Piotr asked as Brandon walked over there next to him.

"Yeah that one is me and my grandfather when I finished basic training. You should have seen the comments about a three star general attending; it was hilarious now that I think about it. The other one is of my parents and me when I was a child, and the last one is of me and my two best friends." Brandon stated as Piotr picked up the last picture noticing a change in Brandon's voice.

"So what about your family," Brandon asked attempting to avoid talking about Johnson or his parents.

"I have two siblings, Mikhail and Illiyana, they are my life. I miss them very much they are back home in Mother Russia with my mother." Piotr spoke as Brandon noticed his smile.

"Well hey at least they are safe my friend," Brandon acknowledged as Piotr returned the picture to its place.

"Da for the moment, Magneto could change his mind anytime, so they went into hiding," Piotr said as his smile disappeared.

"Wait who is Magneto and why is your family in hiding?" Brandon asked concerned about his new friend's family.

Brandon waited for an answer as he heard Piotr mutter something in Russian. Brandon waited a while longer hoping that time would help him come up with a good answer.

"Magneto forced me to work for him by kidnapping my sister, but he lost control when a friend of mine freed her. After a quick meeting between me and my family they went on the run, and I returned here so I could make up for some of my past actions." Piotr answered as Brandon bowed his head slightly.

"If you ever need any help whatsoever you find me Piotr, and if that bastard manages to get a hold of your family let me know ok I'll do my best to help out," Brandon commented as he stood up anger showing up on his face.

"Thank you comrade," Piotr stated and Brandon smiled as he watched the giant Russian leave the room.

Brandon shut the door resting on his bed; this place was definitely growing on him.

Next chapter: Code of Honor

Three days have passed and Brandon's injuries have healed and he makes a decision about staying after receiving some information from an old friend.


	3. Code of Honor Part 1

Brandon slept in his bed tossing and turning, he had been there for three days having the same nightmare. Brandon jumped up sweat dripping down as he got out of bed and walking towards his sink. Splashing some water on his face Brandon looked into the mirror, he had a small scar on his forehead from the truck but otherwise he had healed rather well with the exception of the still present stitches.

"Of all the things to have a nightmare about that night, I'm going to have to start doing something to take my mind off things," Brandon muttered as he grabbed a pair of shorts and a shirt.

He started working out doing push ups and sit ups attempting to take his mind off things.

"I need to, get some real exercise today," Brandon commented looking at the digital clock that Piotr loaned him so he could wake up on time.

He stopped though when he heard some voices going down the hall. He listened as they muttered something about training in the danger room and decided to see what the commotion was all about.

"Piotr what's going on," Brandon asked as the giant Russian stopped to answer.

"Ah good morning comrade, we have a morning training session today," was the Russians polite answer as Brandon scratched his head.

Brandon had heard all about the infamous danger room session from Jaime. Brandon nodded stepping aside allowing them to continue on their way. He just shook his head and walked his usual route to grab some breakfast.

"Good morning Ms. Munroe," Brandon stated as he grab a bowl for some cereal and a spoon.

Brandon looked on as Bobby, Ray and Jaime argued over who got the last piece of bacon. Brandon slammed his fist on the table stopping the three from arguing and taking the last piece of bacon and breaking it into three pieces and giving them each one.

"Hey his is bigger," Bobby said earning a cold stare from Brandon.

"Damn ungrateful kids," Brandon commented under his breath as he finished his cereal and picking up a banana.

It didn't take him to long sitting there at the kitchen table to finish his breakfast. He had offered on many occasions to lend a hand around the mansion but Xavier wouldn't have any of that until he had almost fully healed. Brandon placed the bowl in the sink and picked up the Daily Bugle.

"Spider-Man: Real or Myth, what a headline." Brandon retorted as he had still heard no word about the NRI attack. The newspapers had been vaguely silent and in fact all the casualties had actually gone unreported to the media.

Ororo watched as the young man flung the newspaper down, the fact was he desperately wanted news on what happened at NRI. Everyone that was currently living in the mansion was keeping their eyes and ears open for any news about the attack but for the past 5 days nothing.

"Brandon could you take the trash out for me, Bobby, isn't very reliable with chores." Ororo asked as Brandon nodded grabbing the trash bag and heading out the back door towards the trash receptacle.

"Damn kid can't even do his chores, if I get the chance he'll do it without the back talk," Bandon muttered as he carried the bag towards the trash receptacle.

Brandon stood there tossing trash in the bin, but as he was about to return to the mansion when he stopped.

"You can come out, I heard you when you stepped on that tree branch," Brandon barked as a man in a military uniform stepped out from behind a tree.

"You haven't changed at all Brandon," he stated as he pulled out a computer disc and a small book.

Brandon looked over at the man and smiled it had been a while since they had seen each other. Fitzgerald had red hair and freckles making the 6 foot man look younger than what he actually was, he was actually 25 and in excellent shape.

"Fitzgerald, I would say it was good seeing you, but you do know that he is dead, don't you?" Brandon stated as the two starred at each other.

"Yeah, I know I brought some stuff for you that I found researching the NRI attack and something that Johnson wanted you to have," Fitzgerald replied as he handed him the disk and a book.

"Thanks anything I need to know that's happening?" Brandon asked as Fitzgerald went to leave.

"Yeah a weird general came to the base looking for you; if I was you I would stay here, I think that's why General Ayers sent you here," he answered as Brandon looked over the book he had received.

"Got a name to go with this mystery general?" Brandon said as he checked the surroundings.

"No but I'll look into it for you, later." Fitzgerald replied slipping into the background.

"Be careful, you take to many risks, how did you get pass mansion security any way?" Brandon asked as he left.

"Hey it took me an hour or three to climb up that cliff; it doesn't have any security monitors, well take care." Fitzgerald replied as he left fading into the forest.

Brandon stood there for a moment taking everything in and made his way back into the mansion. Little did he know Logan had picked up the entire exchange staying out of their sight and he was the best at being unheard when he desired to be unheard.

"I always thought that was a weak point, then again I never thought anyone could make it up that cliff," Logan muttered making a mental note to improve the security in that area.

Brandon went straight to Kitty attempting to borrow her laptop so he could view the disk.

"Hey Kitty can I borrow your laptop for a little bit," Brandon asked with a slight grin on his face.

"Like ok but promise you'll bring it back in one piece," Kitty stated surprised as Brandon grabbed it and ran out of the room.

Brandon waited as the laptop brought up the information on the disk. On it was a military report written by his grandfather bringing up the casualties and something Brandon had wanted to know since that day.

"I have your name Reaper, it may not be much but it is a start," Brandon said running over the parts that weren't blacked out due to them being classified.

One other thing caught his eyes as he scrolled further down, it was what was stolen. He studied the information as he looked on in shock.

"My god, I have to inform the Professor immediately I thought that had been cancelled," Brandon muttered as he grabbed the laptop and started running not even bothering to knock on the professor office door just opening it like he had seen many others do.

"Brandon can I help you is something wrong?" Charles stated as he watched Brandon place the laptop on his desk.

"They took the information for Project Eternal, Professor this is very bad," Brandon exclaimed as he pointed to the laptop.

"I'm sorry Brandon what is Project Eternal?" Charles stated looking a little perplexed at Brandon's reaction.

"It's the design for a new military version of the sentinel robot that Trask designed with an improved power source and fire power. It makes the original look like a paper tiger" Brandon stated as he pointed to some information that had been pasted onto the bottom of the page.

"The sentinel itself isn't the problem it would take a lot of resources to manufacture a mass production model, not to mention to fix all the problems that it had during testing; the fact that they got the blueprints for the improved energy source is a problem. It could power the entirety of New York City for months with minimum need for recharging. It isn't as easy to make but all it takes is one," Brandon continued not even letting the Professor react.

"The project was scrapped but the power source has a lot of potential that's why they were going to work on them there at NRI." Brandon said stopping to breathe.

The professor looked on very concerned at what he was reading and quickly summoned Logan, Ororo and Hank to his office.

"We definitely have a problem, but we also have very few leads to go on," Charles said as he looked at the information on Kitty's laptop.

"What's wrong Chuck?" Logan replied as Charles motioned him to look at the screen.

All thee moved closer and read the report very carefully taking in every word. It was the bottom part that stunned them the most.

"So how long have they been planning this new Sentinel?" Hank asked as Brandon shrugged his shoulders.

"I have no idea, I heard rumors, but no one ever put much stock in them. I was only a simple marine, not a high ranking officer that would know," Brandon stated as he crossed his arms.

"What about your old man?" Logan asked not pleased with the idea of new sentinels since meeting the original.

"I doubt he would know either, the numbers on the bottom are a military ID number, but those numbers and his aren't the same," Brandon stated as he leaned up against the wall.

"I assume your little visitor earlier gave you this information," Logan commented as the others digested what they were hearing.

"Yeah let's just say he is very good at what he does, I'm willing to bet this number belongs to the mysterious general that appeared at NRI." Brandon replied not pleased with Logan's spying on him.

"We have this information, Charles, but we also have no leads to go on," Hank responded interrupting the two.

"What about asking your grandfather for information, Brandon?" Ororo asked as Brandon shook his head no.

"Wouldn't be a good idea, that's probably why my friend came, he's probably being watched by someone," Brandon answered not pleased with this thought, but he knew that's how he would act in this case.

"Yes we will have to keep our eyes and ears open and are more alert than ever for threats." Charles spoke as the others voiced their agreement.

"My friend is going to see what he can find out about this mysterious general that appeared at NRI, he is also a problem since he is now looking for me. I think he won't show up here though, to many people here for him to make a direct run at me," Brandon said as he looked at the others.

"For the time being the students are not to know about this, it isn't an immediate threat, and there is really nothing we can do until we get more information. Besides it seems our normal eavesdroppers are not present," Charles commented as those there nodded.

Brandon stood there taking out the disc and handing it to the professor for safe keeping. He then packed up Kitty's laptop and went to return it to her after Mr. McCoy made sure nothing of what was on the disk remained.

Brandon knocked twice and waited for someone to open the door. A Goth looking girl opened the door and Brandon stood there looking on in shock.

"Uh here can you uh give this to Kitty for me, thanks," Brandon stated not exactly sure what to make of this type of setup.

He watched as she took it giving him a glare due to his little speech. Brandon just walked away quickly not wanting to show his shock.

"What in the hell, if I dressed like that they would have shot me in the Marine corp.," Brandon muttered silently.

Then he stopped realizing something for the first time, these were kids and this wasn't the corp. This was a different world with different rules, and he hadn't been here in this world since he had been in high school 3 years ago. Then again I was never in that world to begin with; I've been around marines my entire life he thought.

Brandon didn't want to think about it as he went to his room this time for a different reason. The small book that Fitzgerald had handed him was what interested him now. He shut his door and picked up the small book looking at it before opening it.

"Norse mythology," Brandon laughed a little; Johnson was after all a major history buff.

Brandon flipped through the book noticing some hand written notes and something caught his eye.

"Odin, the leader, gave up one of his eyes to see the future to figure out when the end or Ragnarok would occur." Brandon said as he attempted to make out the rest of the illegible writing. The only other thing that he could make out was he reminds me of Brandon.

"Johnson, I'll get that guy back for you, I swear I will." Brandon grunted as he placed the book in his top desk drawer.

He groaned as he heard a few yells and the ever present prankster Bobby running away from his latest prank.

"That is if these damn kids don't kill me first," Brandon muttered as he went outside to see what the problem was.

"Bobby how could you freeze my diary and then drop it," Jubilee said tears welling up in her eyes.

Brandon quickly moved into the area heading straight for the prankster. Brandon knew that this little incident was his fault, and made a straight move for Bobby. Three days he had stayed here and he had been filled in by Piotr and Jaime that Bobby was responsible for almost all pranks.

"Hey it was all in good fun, I didn't…" Bobby started only to be picked up by his shirt by Brandon.

"Listen here ice boy, if anything else gets frozen around here that shouldn't be I will use my powers to turn your precious TV into a smoking pile of rubble do we have an understanding," Brandon said as he slowly lower Bobby back down to the ground.

"Uh yeah crystal clear," Bobby replied shaking as Brandon released his grasp and letting him go.

"Scram kid," Brandon said as he allowed a little bit of energy to build up in his hands and showing Bobby.

He looked over at Jubilee and helped her up after she gave up on recovering her diary and he released his energy.

"Look I'm sorry you lost something, but it could be a lot worse ok?" Brandon stated as he turned to leave.

"Thank you for your help Mr. Ayers," Jubilee said as Brandon turned to leave and return to his room.

"Hey none of that mister crap, I'm only 3 years older than you understand, Brandon will do," He replied as he turned to see Piotr leaving his room.

"Hey Piotr wait up," Brandon called out as he left Jubilee behind.

"Hello comrade how are you doing today?" Piotr asked with his usual smile.

"Not bad, you seem happy been spending time with a certain person named Kitty?" Brandon answered grinning as Piotr turned a little red.

"It's not like that comrade, we are only friends and I wouldn't want to ruin our friendship," Piotr stated as the two walked down the hall and heading towards the kitchen.

"Really that's not what scuttlebutt says around here but then again what do I know," Brandon replied still grinning.

Brandon actually found Piotr to be a good person and a good friend. He was better company than those damn kids which Brandon had included about 5 people: Bobby, Ray, Tabby, Jaime, and Roberto. The two had finally arrived in the kitchen noticing no one was around

"Oh really what's this I hear about a certain princess taking a certain liking to you comrade," Piotr answered as Brandon pulled up a chair in the kitchen.

"So that's why Amara's been avoiding me huh, never knew a thing about it," Brandon said grinning slyly.

The two laughed at this until Piotr asked a question Brandon didn't expect.

"So do you like her?" Piotr stated as Brandon froze with a very blank face.

Brandon thought for a while trying to determine what would be a good answer only to blurt out what came in first to his head.

"Yeah she's very pretty but right now I have a little bit too much to think about," Brandon answered making sure that no one else was around.

"Besides I haven't decided how long I'm going to be staying here," Brandon continued as Piotr started to frown.

"No offense comrade, but I think you have already decided to stay. Otherwise you would have said no," Piotr said with confidence.

"Damn your good, I was going to ask the Professor if I could stay permanently later," Brandon admitted as he put his hands up to surrender.

Brandon went over to the refrigerator grabbing two cokes and returning to the table. He handed one to Piotr as Professor Xavier wheeled into the room.

"Good afternoon," Charles Xavier said as he got a coffee cup and poured himself some coffee.

Brandon stood there trying to determine the best way to ask his question, when the professor let out a small laugh.

"Professor, I'm trying to find the best way of asking you to stay here, but I'm not very good at such things," Brandon asked as Piotr laughed in the background.

"I know and you can stay here as long as you need to, but I do have a favor to ask you. You see we have been hard pressed to find instructors here, particularly since Scott and Jean are in college. The fact is we could use your expertise in a few areas," Charles commented as Brandon carefully judged the offer.

"Fine by me, I got to earn my keep here after all, I'm at your service sir," Brandon acknowledged as he offered to shake hands with the professor.

The professor shook his hand and decided that it was time to bring up another matter.

"Brandon as you know a right of passage around here is the choice of a codename something that you go by in the field," Charles said watching as Brandon grinned.

Brandon stood there thinking trying to come up with a codename, until something occurred to him. Honor my fallen friend came into his thoughts as his eyes widen.

"Odin, you can call me Odin in the field or when I'm passing along my expertise," Brandon stated as he remembered his memories of his fallen friend.

"That's an interesting choice comrade can you tell me how you came up with it," Piotr spoke up as the Professor looked on with interest.

Brandon stood there a tear in his eye, and he looked at the two.

"An old friend said I reminded him of Odin, a very dear and trusted old friend who is missed greatly by his family and friends," Brandon answered as he thought back.

Brandon then turned to the Professor reminded of something else he needed to say. Something that he needed to say so there could be an understanding between the two.

"There is one last thing Professor, Reaper is mine, it's a matter of honor and avenging my friend. You can look in my head if you want, but I just need to say this before anything happens," Brandon stated as he tilted his head down.

"I normally do not support these types of issues Brandon, but I understand the issue. I can't promise we won't interfere however," the Professor answered as Brandon raised his head a little.

Brandon understood this, he was familiar with what Xavier wanted and this wasn't exactly the way to achieve it. He thought about something and then nodded his head in agreement.

"I can live with that Professor, I can live with that," Brandon said as he left the kitchen to return to his room.

Brandon walked his usual path to his room attempting to decide on how to get some new clothes and some other things that would make things easier for him while he was here.

"Let's see I need a laptop, can't borrow one every time I need one, new clothes, and a few books wouldn't hurt,' Brandon said as he wrote down the things that he needed.

Brandon stood there pulling out a little black book that he kept his pay information in and balanced bills and paychecks.

"The good thing about being a marine is the fact they cover nearly everything leaving me with what should be enough to get by," Brandon continued as he added up his remaining pay.

Brandon then had another thought occur; the money couldn't be accessed without tipping someone off. If someone was looking for him and he used his check card than it would be like lighting a signal flare.

"Guess I'll have to ask the Professor for a loan, or pay advancement," Brandon laughed to himself.

Brandon shut his door moving out of his room deciding that he really needed at least the new clothes. Brandon made his way to the usual door, but instead of just going right in he knocked this time. He heard a voice in his head say come in, shrugging Brandon opened the door.

"Well Brandon what can I do for you now," the Professor stated smiling; he already had picked up his thoughts and what he was planning.

Brandon sat down in the chair, leaning back slowly in the chair.

"Well to be completely honest I need some money Professor. I can't access my military pay because someone would automatically look at that if they were tracking me." Brandon answered as the Professor nodded in agreement.

An awkward silence fell between the two; the fact was Brandon didn't like the fact he had to ask for money or the fact that he had in his opinion bothered the man so much today.

"I understand completely, I'll have Ororo accompany you to the mall and help you pick up anything you need. I'll also have Hank work on getting your money transferred to a new hidden account so you can access it from here on. Brandon please get anything you want or need after all, you will in a way be working here as well as learning," Charles stated as Brandon nodded in agreement.

"I appreciate this Professor I really do, so when do you want me to start giving out some of my special lessons?" Brandon asked a grin forming on his face.

The professor wheeled over to a computer accessing the training schedule for the next week and motioning Brandon to look at it. Brandon watched as Logan seemed to have the most time spent in training the students.

"Tomorrow I want you to observe Logan and then after that you will cover half of his shift once you feel that you are ready. Logan could use some help since the other adults spend their time doing other things such as the house work or building the gadgets we need." Charles stated noticing Brandon frowning at the thought of working with Logan and again when he looked at the time the training occurred, 5am.

"You're the boss, I'll go shopping after the little joy session tomorrow," Brandon said as he turned to leave it was then he remembered that there was also an afternoon session.

Brandon walked towards his room hearing another argument between the damn kids as he referred to them.

"Granted that is if I survive these damn kids," Brandon muttered to himself shutting the door ignoring the argument.

Brandon just moved to his bed so he could sleep, tomorrow was going to be a very long day.

Next Chapter: Code of Honor part two

Brandon observes his first danger room session, irritated at what he sees, he decides to interfere.


	4. Code of Honor Part 2

Brandon woke up slowly at 4:30 intending to take a shower before heading down to the danger room. It had taken him a while changing into his next to last set of clean clothes that had been sent in that box.

Brandon stepped out of the door and headed to the elevator, during his first couple of days he spent time going back and forth between the two areas.

Brandon touched his forehead and then spoke silently to himself," I should really see Dr. McCoy about removing these. It has been enough time at least in my opinion," Brandon looked on as the elevator arrived at its destination.

He walked slowly into the control room recognizing from a rather generalized tour he had taken a few days ago. To his surprise the man known as Logan was in there making some adjustments to the machine.

"Well bub, Charles told me that you would be joining me for observations today," Logan stated pressing a button adjusting the difficultly level.

Brandon nodded crossing his arms unimpressed with the danger room, it seemed to be a box like room how could anyone get any training done in this thing. Then thinking back he remembered what Jaime had told him about the room.

"So you actually managed to train some of these kids in here in this thing. I was trained on an old tank demolition range by my grandfather, wish we had some of this fancy crap back then," Brandon commented as some of the students entered the room.

Brandon observed carefully noticing who had come into the room. Scott, Jean, Rogue, Kitty, Piotr, Kurt, and Bobby entered the room dressed in uniforms with an X on them.

"So these are the X-Men, we heard some rumors about them in the corp, nothing concrete though," Brandon stated as he watch the students talk.

Brandon watched as Logan pressed a switch preparing to inform the X-Men of the incoming exercise.

"This is a simple one Point A to B, make it to the line before time expires," Logan bellowed as Brandon watched the X-Men prepare themselves.

The danger room started to change into a giant maze and Brandon watched as various traps and droids were deployed to deal with the X-Men.

"I assume all of this is non lethal, nothing that could hurt them to much," Brandon asked as he watched the room finished changing as Logan grunted.

Brandon watched as they all went into action Kurt teleporting from place to place confusing the traps as Kitty would phase through them disrupting their circuitry. It was an interesting display as the two maneuvered through the maze and the traps. Piotr just crushed or charged through things as the shots bounced off of him.

"They are doing very well all considering," Brandon stated as he watched everything that had been going well fall apart.

Bobby used his ice powers to freeze part of the floor figuring it would disable some of the droids, not knowing that Scott was about to pass through in that direction. Scott ran forward attempting to fire a blast from his visor when he slipped on the ice causing the red beam to go straight up hitting the ceiling. In an effort to help them both Jean and Rogue both got nailed by the droids, leaving only Piotr, Kurt, and Kitty as the ones who managed to make it through the course.

"This is ridiculous, only three of seven made it to the goal," Brandon stated as Logan growled at the less than satisfactory results.

Brandon could tell Logan had been irritated by the results and flipped on the switch to speak. He could tell that there was an argument occurring between Scott and Bobby just by their movements.

"What happened down there Cyclops?" Logan stated interested to see the response.

Brandon meanwhile left the room and headed straight toward the Danger Room door. He turned into the men's locker room before hand grabbing a spare New Mutant uniform.

"A little big but that's ok it suits its purpose," Brandon stated as he looked at himself in the all black uniform with two X's on the side.

Pressing in a sequence of buttons on the panel besides the entrance to the danger room Brandon watched as the door opened catching the tail end of an argument.

"Hey it wasn't my fault Bobby should have been more careful where he aimed," Scott commented as Jean and Rogue argued about why they got hit by the droids.

"Hey don't blame me fearless leader, you should have been watching were you are going," Bobby retorted as Brandon entered the room listening to the argument by the wall.

"That's enough of that, you pass together, you fail together," Brandon angrily stated moving towards the others.

Logan watched as Brandon had appeared downstairs and smiled this would definitely be interesting.

"Hey what's that suppose…" Bobby stated as Brandon cut him off before he could finish.

"A team is responsible for each other you all failed this exercise not just you four. The other three should have returned and carried you out of the exercise area." Brandon bellowed as they all fell silent.

Brandon slowly paced back and forth in the danger room as the others started to talk again.

"But it's his fault," Bobby shouted as Brandon stopped pacing.

Brandon stood there for a second and then came to a sudden decision; it was time to show them what could be a possible future.

"Alright if you argue with each other than you got a problem because were doing this again. The only difference is you'll be facing off against me and there will be no maze. Logan fire up this death trap and you all better get ready because now you face Odin," Brandon answered as he walked to the other side of the room.

Logan smiled at least this kid actually knew a few things about the world; he pressed a few buttons as the room changed into a building.

Brandon observed his environment and watched as the X-Men were taken by surprise at his suggestion. He smiled this would be fun and definitely better exercise than some push ups or sit ups.

"Let's get him," Bobby said as he ran forward firing his ice beam directly at Brandon.

Brandon watched as Bobby had made the first very foolish move against him. Brandon raised a barrier and watched as it dissolved the ice causing steam to fill the room. Brandon smiled as he used the steam to cover himself as he moved through the room going on the offensive. He could hear them talking, and that was all he needed to keep track of them. Brandon watched as Jean managed to force the steam up with her telekinetic abilities, in which Brandon automatically fired off three energy blast throwing Jean into a nearby wall.

"Hey that wasn't fair," Scott yelled angry about his girlfriend being blasted into the wall of the building.

Firing a blast from his visor Brandon moved quickly out of the way using a wall for cover. He smiled as Scott let his anger over take him using his visor to blast more of the wall away. Moving away Brandon saw his first signs of hope, Kurt, Rogue and Kitty were working together and had managed to out flank him.

"Like give up Brandon we got you surrounded," Kitty stated as Brandon looked around viewing his options.

Brandon shook his head as he flung two energy blasts one at Kitty and another at Rogue. Kitty dodged it by phasing through a wall and Rogue was teleported to safety by Kurt. Brandon looked over in time to see Bobby again but this time Brandon hit him with two blasts in succession sending him into another wall. Brandon looked shocked as Kurt teleported Rogue close in hoping her draining abilities could be used against him.

"Just one little touch mae friend," Rogue replied as she had taken off her glove and attempted to touch Brandon's face.

"Not interested in sharing my memories or abilities," Brandon answered using one of his more powerful techniques sending out a wave of energy hitting Rogue and Kurt.

Checking his back Brandon noticed Scott had finally stopped blasting that wall and had managed to find him at last. Brandon raised his barrier just in time to absorb another blast from Scott's visor. He smiled energy blasts didn't damage his barrier, just got absorbed into it. If you wanted to break it, you had to use physical moves or teleport through.

"That won't work on me," Brandon said as he ran forward creating a small barrier and then running toward Scott the barrier absorbing all the blasts.

Brandon punched Scott in the stomach and then swept his feet out from underneath him. Basic marine hand to hand made Brandon a superior fighter in close range environments.

"Unless my opponent has super strength," Brandon stated as he dodged a punch from Piotr.

Brandon dodged again figuring out who he had left to deal. Piotr and Kitty were the only two to come to mind as he dodged another giant metal fist.

"Whoa no wonder your codename is Colossus," Brandon countered as he launched another wave of energy blasts.

Colossus emerged unharmed and charged through breaking a hastily placed barrier by Brandon. Brandon smiled he had an idea and placed his hands out front focusing his energy. Brandon fired a blast only to have Colossus use his left hand to block it.

Kitty looked on Brandon had taken out the others and the only ones that remained were the three of them. She ran over to Piotr and joined his side as Brandon stood there backed up in a corner. It was then that Logan ended the simulation with Brandon breathing heavily and Piotr changing back into his non metallic form.

"Odin or Brandon you are very strong comrade," Piotr stated smiling as he watched his friend move forward.

Brandon walked towards them and held out his right hand as the two shook hands.

"You did very well Piotr, I can see why you are called Colossus," Brandon answered as he looked over at the others.

Brandon stood there thinking for a minute as he wiped his sweat off his face with a towel Kitty had gave him.

"Rogue, Nightcrawler, Shadowcat, and Jean you four did very well to. You almost had me back there if I hadn't used that energy wave technique. As for Jean you would have probably had me if you hadn't moved the steam so the others could see," Brandon continued as he looked over at Iceman and Cyclops.

Brandon then motioned for them to come closer as he thought about what to say to Cyclops and Iceman.

"You two let your emotions get the best of you, your lucky this was a training exercise and I was holding back. Scott, you got to chill out, you're suppose to be the leader and keep them together but there was no group attack like there should have been when I took out Jean. Bobby you were just too energetic, only a fool attacks first when he doesn't have the advantage," Brandon said looking at the two.

Brandon then turned around having thought of something that really needed to be said.

"If you all would have worked together to begin with I never would have stood a chance unless I went all out. This whole thing was about teamwork, all of you should think about that. However, that doesn't mean I wasn't impressed by some of you. Kurt, Kitty, and Rogue worked really well together." Brandon said as he left the danger room with Scott taking in what he had heard.

Logan on the other hand was laughing; this marine definitely had skills and knew what he was doing. He smiled this was a good learning experience for the kids with the exception of Colossus. Granted Scott was not thrilled after this little demonstration that Brandon had brought out, but he thought the two had started to repsect each other.

Brandon shook his head moving his right hand up to his forehead to check his bandage and to ensure his stitches were still there. He felt them there and walked slowly back into the control room.

"Sorry about that Mr. Logan," Brandon said as he walked into the room.

"Its ok marine that was quite a lesson you taught the kids. You might be able to teach these kids a few things after all, but your one to talk about losing your temper. You were fuming when you got down there." Logan replied as Brandon sat down in a chair.

"Yeah well such a lack of teamwork really annoyed me; I expected the absolute best from them." Brandon answered grabbing a water bottle and taking a drink.

"You mean the fact that they didn't show the Marine Corp type of teamwork your use to. Just remember we aren't raising them to be warriors most of them are kids after all," Logan countered as Brandon finished his drink.

"Maybe so, but if they are going to continue going out in the field the petty bull shit needs to stop," Brandon replied as he got up heading towards the door.

Logan couldn't help but agree with that comment; the team had gotten a bit distracted and unorganized since the Professor added Iceman and Colossus.

"You and I both know there a lot of bad people, mutant or human, out there and they have to be ready. I'm going to teach them the ways of war it's the only way they are going to survive against someone like Reaper, shit like the previous session will end up getting us all killed," Brandon said as he left to take another shower.

"Just remember this isn't the corp, some of them are still kids," Logan reiterated.

Brandon understood that giving a thumb's up sign as he left the room and went over to the elevator waiting for it to return. Sitting there he contemplated this little exercise, it had felt good to move like that again.

A thought crossed his mind after he stepped into the elevator. They aren't the only ones that need to train, if I'm going to beat Reaper. I need to get stronger if I'm going to avenge my friend Brandon thought as he stepped out and into the mansion. He walked silently to his room to take a shower as Bobby went over to the others.

"Man we got our butt's kicked by Odin," Bobby said as he sat next to Jubilee.

The others looked confused for a moment until they learned it was Brandon's codename.

"I can't believe that he was strong enough to beat everyone except Colossus. That must mean that guy he faced at the NRI was really strong. "Jaime said as he changed the channel on the TV.

The others looked around; Jaime had actually said something that was probably right. The man Brandon fought must have been really powerful if he managed to beat Brandon. It wasn't a pleasant thought for any of them, someone that strong waiting out there for them.

"The battle he was in at NRI, it must have been horrible. Maybe even worse than the battle against Apocalypse, at least no one died there," Amara said her head bowed slightly.

It was then that Ms. Munroe appeared with some car keys in hand ready for her shopping trip. She normally just bought food, drinks, and necessities, but today she had Brandon going with her so he could get some things.

"Does anyone want to come with me and Brandon to the mall," Ororo warmly said with a smile on her face.

Brandon walked down slowly a little sore from his demonstration he had given earlier. Granted his shower helped out with sore limbs and all, he still had to go shopping later. He turned as he heard a voice call out to him, calling for him to stop.

"Hey Piotr, what's going on?" Brandon spoke as he turned around.

"Nothing important comrade you don't mind if Katya and I go along with you on your shopping trip today?" Piotr called out moving closer to Brandon.

"No skin off my back lets go, I want to be back in time to see the last training session for today. That and I have to figure out what my lesson is going to be tomorrow. "Brandon answered motioning for Piotr to follow him.

Brandon walked with him as Kitty joined them and showed them the way to the garage. Needless to say Brandon was surprised that he had a whole car full of company. Kitty, Amara, Tabby, Jubilee, Piotr, and Ororo had crowded into a van.

Definitely reminds me of the old shopping runs some of us used to do back when they would get eight or nine people in a truck. Brandon thought silently climbing in as Ororo started the car and drove off.

"You should be glad Kitty isn't driving," Jubilee whispered to Brandon as he looked out the window.

"Why's that?" Brandon whispered back to him continuing to look out the window.

"She's not a very good driver believe me, she is really bad." Jubilee returned very quietly as Brandon turned his head.

Brandon merely nodded as he listened to the various conversations that were going on in the van. He just waited patiently for them to arrive at the mall, so he could get the things he needed and go.

"Hey Brandon what all do you like need to get here?" Kitty asked as Brandon dropped the blank look he had.

"Uh well let's see I need new clothes, a few books, and maybe a laptop since my old one sort of had a building dropped on it. That guy really did a number on that place and a lot of people me included," Brandon commented referring back to NRI.

Brandon followed the others into the mall until most of them decided to go and do their own thing. Which was fine by Brandon he didn't need a crowd to get his things but Kitty and Piotr remained by his side.

"Don't you two have things you need to do like go to some other stores or spend some time alone?" Brandon said with a slight grin.

The two shook their head no remaining unnaturally silent until Brandon turned around running directly into someone.

"Well who do we have here another freak I see," Duncan Matthews stated as Brandon looked straight at him not backing down at all.

It seems Duncan and a few of his friends made a straight move for them when they first entered the mall.

"You best get out of my face before I get irritated," Brandon returned unhappy with the person that seemed to be inching closer to his face.

"Oh really what you gonna do mutie? Use your powers on me? I'm not scared of you freaking mutie," Matthews continued not bothering to move.

Ororo looked on unsure of what to do, normally she would tell the students to back off. Brandon however, was no student and he was clearly agitated by this disrespect.

"I'm an ex-marine kid, believe me I don't need powers to put you and your boys in their place," Brandon threatened not backing down at all.

Duncan stood there he had to rethink this, picking a fight with a mutie was fine with him but one that was once a marine, that was asking for trouble. Some members of his family had been marines, he knew first hand how tough they were. He was saved however when the mall security arrived to break up the disagreement.

"Ok that's enough all of you move along or get out," the guard said as he motioned for them to move.

Brandon merely nodded walking straight through Matthews and his friends almost daring them to touch him.

"Oh yeah kid, if any of your boys yourself included threaten my team or friends, there will be hell to pay. Consider them off limits from now on," Brandon spoke as he continued to a specialty computer store.

Kitty and Piotr just smiled and decided to head to the food court after seeing Brandon deal with the problem.

Ororo breathed a sigh of relief Brandon was nearly as bad as Logan, but then again Logan would have already started to fight and would drink beer over their knocked out bodies. Brandon certainly was unique his training as a marine made him different than their other students and that much more dangerous.

"Excuse me sir can I help you?" Brandon heard from a meek salesman that had remained behind the desk.

"Tell me something does your store have this," Brandon said as he pulled out a piece of paper with the specifications of the laptop that he needed.

The salesman looked at him and took him over to the counter pointing to the only laptop behind glass. Brandon looked down nearly choking when he saw a 2500 dollar price tag.

"For 2500 dollars that thing better wash my clothes and cook my food," Brandon remarked unhappy with what he had heard.

"I'm sorry sir but this is the only model we have here in the store that fits your specifications," the salesman replied as Brandon shrugged his shoulders.

"Fine so be it, I need it to do everything that's on that sheet, you better make sure it can," Brandon answered as he motioned for Ororo.

"Could you take care of this for me Ms. Munroe, I'll be over there getting some clothes," Brandon said as he walked away from the store and quickly went across to the other store.

Amara, Jubilee, and Tabby watched as Brandon entered the clothing store, looking around trying to pick out some clothes.

"You sure did pick out a cute one Amara, granted his taste in clothes need some work," Tabby commented as Brandon looked at some clothes.

"Why don't you go talk to him, he's alone and no on else is around," Jubilee said as she gently nudged Amara in that direction.

Amara stood there and decided it was now or never and even with these two watching, it was more private than at the mansion.

She entered the store and went over next to the window where she found Brandon looking at clothes.

"Hi uh how are you," Amara nervously asked as Brandon dropped some clothes he had picked out.

She bent down picking up the clothes and handed them to him. He nodded taking them as she noticed his fondness for plain black shirts and khaki pants.

"Pretty good, but you have been avoiding me lately. What's up with that huh?" Brandon asked a small grin appearing on his face.

Amara blushed slightly as Brandon grinned at her reaction. Guess this means what Piotr told me is true; I got to figure this out. Brandon stood there for a moment picking up a few dress shirts and some shorts. Then again who cares he thought, I could be dead tomorrow particularly if Reaper decides to show up. Seize the day and all that jive, Brandon thought to himself.

"So how about we go get some food later, get to know each other," Brandon asked as he grinned watching for her reaction.

She nodded as Brandon watched Ororo round the corner with his new laptop in a bag. He rolled the cart over to her smiling as he enjoyed his the idea of having all of this new stuff.

"Hello Ms. Munroe, I hope everything went well, I'm finished here," Brandon stated as he pointed to the clothes in his cart with Amara close behind.

"Very well, is that Amara there with you?" Ororo asked as she looked over Brandon's shoulder.

"Yeah now that the serious stuff is taken care, I think we'll go grab some food with the cash I have," Brandon replied as he handed her the cart.

Then he looked at all the stuff he had bought and made a last minute addition to the plan.

"That's after we help you load all of this up in the van," Brandon stated as Ororo paid the rather large bill.

Next Chapter: Code of Honor Part three (the last one I swear)

Brandon talks with Amara in the food court only to end up dealing with a large and very unhappy problem.


	5. Code of Honor Part 3

**Author's notes: I'm thanking Agent-G for his support and great ideas regarding a few things. **

Brandon grunted as put the last bag in the back of the van. This might have been a little to much Brandon thought as he looked over all the things in the van.

"Well you ready to get some food?" Brandon asked Amara as he made sure the back door was shut.

Brandon waved to Ororo as she sat down in the van talking on a cell phone. Brandon could have sworn he heard something turning around rapidly.

"Is something wrong Brandon?" Amara asked concerned about Brandon's rapid response.

Brandon shook his head no and continued with her past the stores and into the food court. It was an interesting mall; the stores were confined to the outer edges while the food court was in the center. What did I hear just now; something just doesn't feel right now he thought.

"Here why don't you go get us some food," Brandon said as he handed Amara a twenty dollar bill with her nodding in agreement.

Brandon grabbed a chair in the corner so he could observe the entire room. Watching as Amara ordered the food and brought in quickly back to the table taking a seat next to him.

"Is something wrong Brandon, you seem more distracted now?" Amara asked again as she put the tray of food down on the table.

"It's nothing, why don't you tell me about your home town?" Brandon questioned trying to avoid his growing suspicion of the area.

Amara looked a little uncomfortable about the situation; she didn't like to talk much about Nova Roma. The fact she was a princess had driven off a number of people just because of her title.

"I'm from a country called Nova Roma, it's a very beautiful place founded by the Romans as a lost colony. I'm the current princess there as you have no doubt heard from the others," Amara answered as Brandon looked on with interest.

Amara looked on she was afraid Brandon might cut this short, but he seemed to just grin.

"I guess all those lessons on formal dinners they made us go through once a month in the Marines might actually come in handy," Brandon joked trying to make Amara smile.

"I don't understand aren't you…" Amara started but was only interrupted as Brandon stopped her.

"So you are a real life princess huh, well I got to admit I know how to pick them. The fact is I don't care if you are a princess or not. The only thing I care about is you and the person that you are. Besides you don't care about what I was, do you?" Brandon said with a grin.

"No it doesn't matter," Amara spoke as Brandon nodded in agreement.

"Let's just take it one step at a time, okay and we will be just fine. It's clear we both like each other so one step at a time, that way we don't screw up anything." Brandon continued watching Amara smile.

Brandon then sat there for a second thinking of one last thing that needed to be cleared up between the two.

"Amara, I'm going to be teaching part time at the institute, the rest I'll be a student like you. Let's keep it simple when that happens, just keep it professional okay?" Brandon asked her not wanting to ruin this but also desiring to keep his deal with Xavier.

Amara nodded smiling as Brandon picked up some food noticing a few observers. So someone has been watching us, might as well give them something to talk about kissing Amara on the cheek.

Tabby and Jubilee watched on as Amara blushed deeply and could barely contain their excitement.

"I knew it all she needed was a little push, can't wait to tell the others about this." Jubilee smugly reacted to Brandon and Amara's miniature date.

"You said it Jubes, let's give them some privacy when they saw Kitty phase through the corner with a very frightened look on her face.

"Guys like where are Magma and Odin, Colossus needs our help like right now," Kitty stated running right at them.

"They are down there, what is going on?" Tabby stated as Kitty stopped suddenly.

"Sabertooth and Pyro are here, apparently Magneto wants Colossus back." Kitty exclaimed as Jubilee started to go get Brandon and Amara.

"I'll get them, you two go get Storm," Kitty stated as Jubilee and Tabby nodded heading away from the area that they heard a battle fighting.

Kitty ran down the stairs heading straight for the two only to meet them half way. Brandon it seems had felt the battle and wanted to make sure no one he knew was involved.

"Kitty what the hell is going on?" Brandon stated as he saw smoke rise up from another area.

"Piotr is there and he needs our help," was all Kitty had to say as Brandon went full speed to the area.

"Kitty get the others back to the van and inform Ms. Munroe, I'll deal with whoever is bothering my friend," Brandon yelled furious about the occurring battle.

Brandon ran right around the corner only to run straight into the battle, Piotr was having a very hard time keeping some civilians safe while fighting the two. Jubilee and Tabby had already been sent back by Kitty, that's one thing I don't have to worry about Brandon thought. Brandon placed an energy barrier in front of Piotr and the civilians as Sabertooth bounced off the barrier.

"Hey Piotr, who are these two and do they work for that Magneto guy?" Brandon asked as he focused on his barrier.

"Da, comrade that is Sabertooth and Pyro, he apparently has decided to try and retrieve me. " Piotr stated as he watched Pyro and Sabertooth attempt to break Brandon's barrier.

Brandon stood there thinking for a second, he had to beat these two but make sure none of the civilians got hurt. It took him a minute grinning as he figured out something to deal with the two.

"Piotr can you deal with the flaming moron, try to remove the pipes that supply him with fuel, while I deal with the guy that probably has rabies." Brandon commented removing his barrier and throwing some energy blasts at Sabertooth.

Sabertooth growled as one of the blast threw him back, he roared and charged again only to be hit by another blast forcing him back again.

"Piotr lets try and take this outside, I don't want any collateral damage or the civilians to get hurt," Brandon yelled out keeping his body at just the right position so he could defend Piotr and the civilians.

The two were getting ready to attempt to force the two out when a lightning blast hit Sabertooth in the chest. Kitty in the meantime phased through and started helping the citizens out of the area.

"Damn, you must have really pissed off God you dumb ass cat, or maybe you just got bad karma," Brandon said as he turned to see Ms. Munroe appear.

She created a fog and Brandon knew exactly what to do. It was time to get the hell out of here; the civilians were going to be fine. Kitty had been phasing them out and to safety and the others had remained at the van. Brandon and Piotr ran carefully to the van managing their way through the fog thanks to Ms. Munroe.

"Thanks Ms. Munroe, that cat was really annoying and I was a little tired from my previous little display," Brandon said as the three got in the car, only to run into another problem.

Sabertooth had followed their scent and was blocking the way out. Man he must really want Piotr back to send this stubborn bastard out to catch him.

"Drive Ms. Munroe," Brandon said as he rolled down a window and put his hand out releasing a barrier in front of the car.

Brandon stood there it was taking all of his concentration to keep the barrier moving in front of the car. Sabertooth just bounced off with a little shock caused by the barrier, while the car drove off leaving him behind. Brandon sat there collapsing in his seat.

"Tell me that all the shopping trips are not like this?" Brandon asked to anyone in the car.

"Well for the most part they are peaceful, but I wonder why the Professor didn't send help. I did contact him for assistance once I found out what was going on." Ms. Munroe stated as she drove on worrying about the others.

"It is because Magneto and Quicksilver like went to the mansion, I heard Sabertooth tell Piotr that," Kitty replied as Piotr had decided to take a small nap in the car.

Brandon opened his eyes at those words; he was irritated these people had pushed the wrong button. There were two general rules about Marines never attack their teammates or friends and never attack their home. They took those two offenses personally and you would literally be dogged by hundreds of them if you did.

"I am going to personally make sure those three get an unwanted and devastating surprise the next time I see them. They made a mistake going to that mall and are going to get it for attacking my friend," Brandon said his smile beginning to return as the drive to the mansion was nearly over.

The others merely nodded; Brandon and Logan shared a lot in common with the exception of abilities, training, and age. No one knew how old Logan was exactly, or what kind of training he had received. Brandon on the other hand had been trained as a marine and still acted like one especially in battle.

Ororo drove them straight into the garage and shut the garage door as Logan and the Professor entered the garage.

"I see the hairball got to you all, and everything turned out like it should," Logan grunted not pleased with the fact they had been caught off guard.

Brandon got out opening the back of the van picking up some bags and his new laptop. He smiled the fact was he wasn't happy with what occurred, but then again it could have gone a lot worse. People could have been seriously injured or worse they could be dead was his thought.

"Well I could have done without the firebug or the oversized cat, hey do you guys mind bringing the rest," Brandon commented carrying most of the stuff and heading for his room.

Brandon watched as Jamie and Piotr picked up the remaining bags following him to his room. Brandon opened the door placing the laptop on his desk and putting the shopping bags with clothes on his bed, motioning the other two to do the same.

Brandon then grabbed his forehead; the Professor had contacted him via his telepathy. Brandon stood there thinking for a second he could tell Piotr had received the same message as had a few others.

"Hey Jaime we got to go see you later ok," Brandon said shaking his head; he really didn't like telepathic messages.

The two began moving towards the Professor's office as Jaime showed himself out. Brandon and Piotr opened the door seeing the other adults there waiting.

"Brandon I called you hear because you are a part time staff member and as such will be privy to all adult meetings. However, you will not be able to talk with the students about what occurs here," Xavier stated noticing as Brandon understood this.

"Not a problem so what's the big meeting about," Brandon asked as the Professor brought up the images of Magneto.

"Eric seems concerned about a new threat and wants to prove that he is the most powerful around now that Apocalypse has departed." The Professor stated as Brandon looked at the projection.

"Wonder why old bucket head waited so long, it has been two year since Apocalypse," Logan said unhappy with recent developments.

Brandon then stood there looking at the projection, two years this guy had been silent. The only thing that had changed was, well all be damned Brandon thought.

"It seems Magneto found out about the NRI assault, must not have been happy about it either. That's the only large scale incident that I can think of that happened in the past two years involving a mutant since the old Egyptian got put away." Brandon thought out loud, not meaning to say that.

"I agree with our young friend, it is a sound theory. It seems Magneto may know who this guy works for and needed some more firepower. "Hank commented as Brandon gave his approval.

Piotr nodded he was here to provide input on Magneto but found it unnecessary to comment. They all had things covered, and Piotr didn't know much any way. Magneto had done his best to isolate him.

"Yeah but if Eric is afraid that means that whoever masterminded the attack on the NRI could be a much larger threat than we expected." Professor Xavier said as the others watched a photograph appeared from the computer disk Brandon had been given.

"We just don't have any clues to go on regarding this man or his current boss," Ororo spoke noticing Brandon's violent reaction to the picture.

Brandon stood there watching as the Professor closed the picture and bringing up another one of Sabertooth, Quicksilver, and Pyro.

"Well we need answers and it is clear that one of the options we have is going back to the NRI for help." Brandon said as he waited for the others to agree or disagree.

Logan shook his head, he didn't agree with this plan. There had to be another way, a way that they could get the info without putting themselves in the military's line of fire. The military would be likely to shoot them down for even approaching the area.

"Are you sure there isn't another way, you would be risking a lot if we did return to NRI," Hank replied as Brandon propped himself against the door.

Brandon stood there thinking, there were two other ways. The first wasn't far away or heavily defended on the outside because most people didn't even know it was there. They could obtain a copy of the report without the blacking out or any other information the military had on the attacker.

"Well there is another way, but it won't be easy. The place may not look like it but it has a lot of security on the inside. Also this is a one time thing, I don't want us to ever return, because I wasn't suppose to mention it to civilians," Brandon said accessing a map program and bringing up a building outside of Washington.

He nodded double checking the location making sure it was correct. He didn't need to reveal anything too classified besides they could have found the place eventually and the first couple floors do have public access. It is the info on the bottom floor we want though, Brandon thought watching the others react.

"So marine what is this place?" Logan snarled not likely its appearance either.

"It's a military intelligence center; they have been sorting out stuff there for the past 70 years. They aren't exactly the most efficient workers, but the first two floors are open to civilians for research into non-classified areas. It makes it look like an academic library and not an intelligence center, a good cover." Brandon answered watching the others react.

Brandon watched as the Professor shook his head no, he didn't want to make unnecessary enemies and this could. Brandon stood there and the last way came into his head, he was the only other person that could help them. Brandon wondered if there was another way, because who knows when Fitzgerald would drop by again with another gift.

"Find a way to contact your friend bub," Logan grunted unhappy with the first or second option.

"Ok I'll put out the word, but it may take a while. I don't know how he does the things he does, I do know he isn't listed in the Marines roster. I think he is on loan to one of the intelligence agencies." Brandon commented not wanting to drag Fitzgerald into anything.

"That does sound like the best plan despite the fact it will take a while," Hank said as Brandon nodded in agreement.

Brandon then thought he had come up with violent measures first and the most peaceful last, the way they did things in the corp. He was going to have to change the way he thought, they want to offer peace first and resort to violent means as a last resort he thought.

"Hey marine anything else you got locked up in that head of yours we need to know," Logan barked taking a drink of beer while he was at it.

"None that are applicable at the moment but be expecting him, he has ways of just appearing without warning," Brandon returned moving to the door after erasing the picture of the intelligence center.

Brandon and Piotr excused themselves and walked out the door heading towards the living room.

"Comrade thanks for your help at the food court," Piotr said as the continued their walk down to the living room.

"No problem, buddy. Hey I heard about this Brotherhood group, I thought it would be them. What happened to them? " Brandon replied as he sat down to watch the local news.

"Well comrade, they disappeared about a year ago without a trace. The Professor sent out Logan hoping that he could track them, but he didn't find anything," Piotr answered as Brandon bowed his head.

"Katya's last boyfriend was a member of that group and she waited for Lance or the others to return but they never did. The only one we know that is still around is Pietro and that is because he is with Magneto," Piotr continued as Brandon shook his head.

"Damn I sure know how to bring up poor subjects, well next time you decide to rumble with Sabertooth check with the vet first, I want to make sure he is housebroken." Brandon joked attempting to lighten the mood.

The two sat there laughing at the last comment as someone else entered the room, wanting to talk to Brandon.

"Hey Amara, you need something?" Brandon asked peeking over the giant Russian's shoulders.

"Can we talk in private," was all she said motioning him to follow her.

Brandon nodded waving to Piotr and followed her to the classroom, a place other students avoided in their off time.

"So what's up?" Brandon asked curious as to why he had been drug so far to talk.

"I talked a lot about myself in the food court, but I didn't find anything out about you." She commented noticing Brandon's reaction.

"Ok what do you need to know," Brandon said grinning as Amara brought up the first subject.

"Where are you from?" Amara asked as Brandon sat down in a desk.

"I was born in the state of Illinois and well after my parents passed on, I traveled from base to base until I turned 18 joining the Marines like my father, grandfather, my great grandfather and so on. I've spent my entire life almost around marines, this is the first time since I was a child that I haven't been around them," Brandon said trying to avoid his lack of a childhood.

"You spent your entire life around marines, must have been quite a life," Amara commented as Brandon just nodded his head.

Brandon didn't want to talk much about being in the marines, but it did feel good talking about his days before he arrived at the institute.

"What was it like being in the Marines and how did you get out of the blood test?" Amara asked curious to hear his response.

"Well the test was taken care of by my grandfather, and as for the Marines it was a lot like here. Granted we spent time learning to fight in wars, in a way so does everyone here. It was one of the best times in my life, I learned a lot from the corp. Made a lot of good friends while I was there," Brandon answered not wanting to think about his discharge.

Amara stood there thinking about what he had just told her only to find out he wasn't finished yet.

"The only difference between the two is I always went were I was told. That's what marines and soldiers do we follow our orders, and that's how I got discharged. We give up our right to a choice and are suppose to obey every order so long as they are legal. I disobeyed my superior trying to do what I thought was right, revealing myself in the process." Brandon continued his smile starting to fade away.

"You did the right thing though didn't you?" Amara asked as Brandon tapped his foot nervously against the floor.

"Yeah, I did the right thing at least I think so. The facts are the right thing and following my orders were contradictory at the time, so I did what I thought was right. Not that I didn't try to get my orders changed I tried hard to contact my grandfather." Brandon told her as he stopped tapping.

"I'm sorry for what happened," Amara stammered, she didn't know how to react to such news.

"Its ok now, the fact is maybe I'm needed here more. Besides I would have never met you unless I got kicked out of the marines. It could turn out to be a blessing in disguise; I can actually use my abilities openly here to lend a hand whether in battle or training." Brandon declared smiling as he grabbed her hand.

"So Mr. Ayers what will our first lesson be tomorrow?" Amara teased as Brandon let out a laugh.

"Now that's my secret Ms. Aquilla but don't worry I'll try and make it fun. Just like my previous little demonstration." Brandon answered moving to the door as he released her hand.

"That is so not fair," Amara pouted as Brandon just laughed again.

"Hey I got a friend to look up, we will talk some more later ok," Brandon countered as he opened the door and left the room.

Brandon walked down the hall grinning until he found Logan standing against a wall with a very sadistic grin.

"Lets get one thing straight I know you and Amara are starting a little relationship. I can smell her scent on your clothes. Now I don't care about the age thing currently, but if anything happens to her I'll gut you marine. Do we have an understanding?" Logan spoke letting his claws out for some more of an intimidation factor.

Brandon starred at the claws for a moment. Great he seems really pissed, guess I should be really careful how I answer this.

"I understand perfectly, no problem here. I just want to get to know her right now, relationships take time," Brandon commented as Logan just nodded smelling a little fear.

Brandon continued his walk towards his room uninterested in anything else except for some sleep.

Logan just smiled this little conversation of his had never failed him when the female students dated someone whether in the mansion or outside of it. While Brandon was harder to intimidate he knew he had gotten through because he had caught a small whiff of fear. He then laughed he had arranged for the marine to teach the New Mutants, it was going to be hell on earth for the new guy. Logan just laughed at that thought; tomorrow's session would be something as he remembered overhearing his plans.

Brandon opened his door and went to collapse on his bed only to slip on the icy floor. Brandon fell quickly catching himself and looked on as Bobby had iced the entire floor as pay back for his actions.

"You're a dead man ice boy!" Brandon yelled getting up only to slip on the floor again.

Next Episode: Training and Recruitment

Brandon sends word for a meeting with Fitzgerald and begins his first training session with the New Mutants. The question is how they will react to his training methods.


	6. Training and Recruitment Part 1

Brandon slept peacefully he had managed to defrost his room thanks to some help from Amara and some very carefully placed energy blasts. It wasn't a hard task but there would be some serious pay back later. He rolled over going back to sleep while someone waited outside his room.

"I don't know about this Bobby," Ray said as he covered his back. "He might really get mad if you do this and actually carry through on his threat to melt your TV."

"No way just watch out for Logan, this will only take a few seconds," Bobby commented making sure Brandon was asleep.

He slowly crawled over and entered his private bathroom finding his target. This will be such a blast when he wakes up was Bobby's only thought as he quickly crawled out of the room. Unfortunately for him Brandon had watched the entire thing smiling. Sorry kid you will have to do better than this Brandon thought as he watched them try to quietly leave.

Brandon woke up officially about an hour later quickly undoing Bobby's little trap. You're going to have to a lot better kid; back in the corp we spent our day digging through a beach looking for APMs (Anti Personnel Mines). His thoughts were interrupted as he picked up the box and pulled out the last thing. A modified black Marine Corp uniform with no name and thankfully it still had the armor weave that was built into it. Another good point was the fact it wasn't black spandex, like most of the uniforms here.

"Well things could be worse, kids trap could have gone off," Brandon mumbled to himself as he got in the shower.

He quickly ended his shower changing into his uniform and making one addition to it. He slowly picked up his globe and anchor which had been on desk and attached it to his uniform. Moving to the door Brandon made his way downstairs for his usual breakfast of cereal and a banana.

"Good morning, Brandon," Ororo stated smiling warmly with Brandon nodding a reply and getting a cup of coffee.

"Morning, where are the kids at?" Brandon asked searching for the usual people that consisted of the breakfast rampage.

"They are outside waiting for you, so are you ready for your first lesson?" Ororo asked as Brandon picked up a banana and moved to the door.

"Yeah later its time to earn my keep," Brandon answered as he walked outside eating the banana.

Brandon couldn't believe his eyes there were abouteight people outside waiting for him. I expected more, someone must have taken some of them he thought.

"Good morning everyone ready to get some work in?" Brandon asked as the kids moaned out loud.

"Do we have to Mr. Ayers?" Jaime called out as Brandon picked up a clipboard with names on it.

"Yeah now let's see who is here. Amara, Ray, Roberto, Rahne, Jaime, Kitty, Rogue, Jubilee and Kurt all here and accounted for. Wait a minute why are you three here you are on the X-Men team?" Brandon asked curious to find out why the three had been assigned to him.

"Mr. Logan like said we should attend your first lesson, mumbled something about learning something from you," Kitty commented as Brandon stood there smiling.

"In other words he wants more time to drink beer and less time with any of us," Jubilee interrupted as Brandon shook his head and the others started to laugh.

"Yeah I forgot I gave the old man the heads up on my lesson," Brandon replied as he pulled out a whistle.

"Alright here we go, we are going to start out with a five mile run followed by some hand to hand combat lessons." Brandon stated beginning to run as the kids groaned.

They quickly went through the course running as they went along. Brandon watched as they continued down the path moving quickly. They are making decent time not bad for a bunch of kids Brandon thought. Now for the second part of my plan as soon as we run across the three mile marker, I can go ahead with the rest of my plan. He blew the whistle telling them to stop and take a break.

"Ok everyone I'm pleased with how quickly we got here together no less and in 25 minutes. You are all clearly in decent shape, but now we are going to walk back and start on some basic hand to hand. Good job everyone," Brandon said a small smile on his face.

There was an old Marine corp trick to get people to learn things, especially when they weren't fond of them. Tell them that you would be doing more of that and seemingly at the last minute cut it down some. It made you look like a hero and your troops appreciated your efforts. It was an old trick but very effective for the most part as they walked back to the area where the run started.

"Ok I need a volunteer or a victim so I can show you a few tricks to defend yourself. No doubt that is why Logan sent you three here, so Ray get up here please. Remember no powers, the idea is to teach you to defend yourself if your abilities aren't functioning or can't be used." Brandon spoke out watching as the others nodded.

Brandon watched as Ray walked not the least bit intimidated as Brandon motioned for him to attack. It wasn't hard for him as he used Ray's own momentum to send him flying to the ground.

"First rule of hand to hand, combat is like poker, learn your opponents tell. For example Ray here shifted his weight too soon and I could read his move like a book. Everyone has their own idiosyncrasies, be sure to note them and use them to your advantage." Brandon stated as he helped Ray off the ground.

Brandon then proceeded to show them a few punches and kicks to use in their attacks. He watched carefully as they practiced the moves attempting to mimic his motions to a point. They were learning this pretty quickly he thought smiling as he planned out his next lesson. This was what he wanted them to learn today, it may not seem like much but it was important.

Brandon looked at his watch it had been almost two hours and he didn't want them late for lunch.

"Ok wrap it up then go grab some chow. After lunch we are going to do some weight training." Brandon yelled as he prepared to blow his whistle.

He watched as they all started to talk as they ran off to get lunch. Brandon however, was more concerned with someone who had been observing his little routine. It wasn't the fact that he didn't like being watched but someone was obviously not pleased with his idea of training. He turned to see the guy with red glasses walking towards.

"Can I give you a word of advice," Scott said getting face to face with Brandon.

"Depends you got a problem with how I'm teaching them," Brandon replied unwilling to back down from this guy.

"You are going too easy on them, you should work them harder. This is about their abilities after all" Scott answered as Brandon shook his head.

"I want them to be able to have something to fall back on in case their abilities aren't accessible or can't be used. I will however try to focus on their abilities more," Brandon stated as he started to walk back to the mansion.

"It's just that we have to rely on our abilities a lot, and I don't understand how this could be useful to them," Scott stated as the two continued their discussion.

"Hey this is what I know; I trained more without relying on my abilities than I did with them. That's probably why I want them to rely more on their physical abilities. Granted they are going to need all the power they can get if they have to face off against someone like Reaper," Brandon answered as he started to walk towards the kitchen.

Scott nodded he could see the reasoning behind this, and maybe the reason he was so jumpy was because he didn't know Brandon very well. Brandon was a definite mystery, but maybe this could help the students learn as well. Brandon on the other hand entered the kitchen looking for food.

He quickly grabbed a bowl of beef stew and went over to were his students had decided to sit down and eat. He sat down right beside them, grabbing a spoon and devouring his food.

"No offense Mr. Ayers why are you eating with us, shouldn't you be eating with the instructors." Jubilee asked surprised that Brandon had sit down next to them.

"None taken, it's just an old Marine corp habit, teammates eat together," Brandon answered as he continued eating the stew.

The students looked at him oddly; the guy was just full of surprises. They were surprised the most when Scott came in heading straight for Brandon. Brandon however didn't even pay attention to him as he moved quickly towards him.

"Look I may not agree with your methods, but I hope you are right about this," Scott spoke as Brandon watched two students stand up.

"Who knows, but at least they will be learning something. Besides helping them become a better team would be more effective, hopefully averting another accident like yesterday." Brandon answered as he waited for Scott's reply.

Scott may have an opposing view, but at least it does have some merit. He seriously deserves some respect, but not too much. Would have made a good marine was Brandon's last thought as Jaime interrupted him.

"Hey Mr. Ayers our lunch break is over," Jaime chirped as Rahne watched the two carefully.

"Alright change of plans we are heading to the danger room for some work with your abilities," Brandon spoke changing his mind about weight training.

"What about the weight training?" Jubilee asked concerned about this change in events.

"I decided to do this instead of that, believe me you'll thank me later. Ok let's move down to the danger room, its time for the real fun to begin." Brandon spoke moving past Scott, who nodded not sure what to make of Brandon's training.

They all got on the elevator and rode it down to the sublevel. Brandon sent Jaime to go get Dr. McCoy to run the room while he went into the locker room to get something. This is it Brandon thought; time to show them how we did things in the Marines.

"Dr. McCoy please activate the flyer training program, difficultly level 7, only one flyer please," Brandon asked as the furry man nodded.

"Uh are you sure about this?" Rahne asked concerned about the difficultly level and the fact the New Mutants were rarely taken above level 6.

"The best way to find out what you can do is push yourself to the extent, but don't worry I'm going to be right here with you. In fact I will be fighting alongside of you, but I will be holding back considerably. Don't be afraid to call for help if you need it from anyone," Brandon announced as he waiting for the giant buzzer to go off saying to begin.

They watched as a miniature flying disc appeared in the room along with some battle droids and the usual laser traps. The exercise started as Magma, Jubilee, Boom-Boom, and Berserker attempted to shoot down the small flying disc with little luck. Brandon just raised a barrier and allowed the shots to be absorbed; this was there exercise after all, so no heavy offensive moves he reminded himself. Wolfsbane jumped up attempting to slice it to pieces with Nightcrawler teleporting around trying to hit it only to miss repeatedly. He watched as they attempted to double and even triple team the flyer only to miss as the flyer flew around. Brandon laughed they hadn't figured it out yet, the goal of this little exercise.

"I can't believe that we can't hit that thing," Jubilee said as she attempted to blast it with her energy.

"I know it just moves so fast, it's like it can't be hit. Not to mention we have to avoid them," Tabby said as she threw some time bombs at some droids.

Brandon watched on carefully Jaime, Kurt and Tabby had been hit twice, but had continued. They had spirit that was important for anyone in this world. Weapons could come and go but spirit is something that will always be required. Brandon watched as the droids and traps started to take a toll on them, they were being beaten. It was still hard to believe they hadn't figured out the real way to win.

"Odin help me," Wolfsbane called out as she was being surrounded by droids only to see them power down and the exercise end.

"What is like going on, it's only been 17 minutes" Kitty said as the droids began to return.

"The goal of this exercise wasn't about winning or defeating the flyer, it was about asking for help from someone that could. The hardest thing anyone can do is to admit that they need help, and once you admit that you got the building blocks for building a team." Brandon answered as he walked towards them.

Brandon looked up to Dr. McCoy and to see if he was watching. This was about basics those are what they need to know he thought. When I build the basics I can focus on the more advance things.

"Ok that was a decent job, you all are done for today. Go have fun read books, watch TV, hang out with friends, orwhatever suits you. Besides training will be shorter once school starts up in a week," Brandon said motioning for them to leave.

"Thanks Mr. Ayers, Mr. Logan would have kept us until five we got out three and half hours early," Tabby said enjoying the idea of having time with Amara and to flirt with a certain someone named Sam when he arrived later.

"Hey it's Brandon or Odin either one it doesn't matter, but no more Mr. Ayers crap. That goes for all of you understand?" Brandon spoke as he waited for an answer.

They all nodded and Brandon went up stairs to meet up with Dr. McCoy. This is going to be fun hope he approves of my ways of teaching or this is going to be a really short part time thing Brandon thought.

"Well that was certainly an interesting lesson Brandon, how did you come up with that?" Brandon heard as he entered the room.

"Back in the Marines they have an obstacle that no one can pass alone, and they forced us all to try doing it alone. Once we did that one of us realized that without help we would have never made it across. So we asked for help from each other and managed to pass the barrier. That is how I came up with this exercise, and it only took a slight modification for it to end when I pressed the button on my sleeve," Brandon said showing him a remote control that was issued to instructors.

"Asking for help is a very important lesson, I think you did a good job showing that today and improving their moves. Is there anything else I can do for you?" Dr. McCoy asked as Brandon took a seat.

Brandon nodded his head, these kids should be glad, running the Crucible was a real challenge. Fifty-four hours of running, crawling, and passing over various obstacles with only eight hours of rest in that time and two meals ready to eat being the only food was the real challenge, these kids have it easy Brandon thought.

"Yeah can you remove these stitches now, I think I have healed enough," Brandon answered as he removed the bandage on his forehead.

"Well lets see, yes it should be time to remove them, come with me it will only take a minute or two," he said as Brandon followed him to the medical ward.

Brandon stood there as he removed the very last of the stitches and picked up a mirror looking at his face without the bandage. A small scar had emerged where the stitches were not that Brandon cared.

"Thanks Dr. McCoy I appreciate the quick medical service," Brandon stated as he went to leave the room.

"Yes well try not to get hurt, and feel free to stop by anytime," Dr. McCoy answered as Brandon left the room.

Brandon walked through the hallway heading for the elevator and then proceeded to head to his room. Hope Alan knows what we need; it would definitely suck having to move into the other two options. Brandon walked into his room shutting the door and taking a seat as he started up his laptop. He was about to start typing when someone knocked on the door. Getting up slowly he opened the door allowing Jubilee and Kitty in the room.

"So what can I do for you two, you don't want more training right now I hope," Brandon spoke as the two entered the room.

"Uh like no thanks, we actually wanted to talk to you about Amara." Kitty spoke as Brandon's grin started to fade away.

"We want to make sure that you are really serious about her. You see you are the first person she has dated here, she hasn't exactly had an active social life with the exception of Tabby and a few other friends." Jubilee spoke as Brandon just scratched his head.

"Wow would have figured she would have gone on dozens of dates by now. Granted this would be my first one in a very long time," Brandon replied as the two looked on.

"Its just like we want to make sure our friend is treated well, and we don't know how fast this relationship is moving," Kitty spoke as Brandon looked on.

"Look you got absolutely nothing to worry about, trust me on that. We are going to be taking this slow, because neither one of us has had much luck with relationships. Now I'm going to have to cut this short, I have an important email to get around to typing. We can continue this later if you want," Brandon answered as he showed the two out.

Brandon shut the door quickly and typed a quick message to Alan. It was a quick message asking for a meeting, with very little details. Don't want to tip off anyone that I am here, granted it will come out eventually he thought as he pressed send.

"Well it's done, I hope you get it old friend," Brandon spoke to himself as he went over to his stand.

He picked up the picture of the three of them thinking back to when they took it. They had just finished a rough assignment in Puerto Colon, jungle recon on some supposed terrorists. The three had gone out celebrating their victory, before hearing they all would be reassigned. Brandon and Johnson had received orders to NRI, as for Alan his orders were classified. The three had fun that last night swearing that in a year once their assignments ended they would meet again. Brandon thought replaying the old memory in his head.

"Marine, are you in there?" Logan bellowed as Brandon opened the door a little startled by the man's presence.

"The professor has a job for a few of us, and he wants you to accompany us on this little run," Logan stated motioning Brandon to follow him.

The two walked down the hall and headed for the Professor's office, where Brandon noticed the other adults were waiting.

"Ok Chuck we are all here, so what's this new mission?" Logan stated as Brandon leaned up against a wall.

"I just received word from Sam, his sister Paige seems to have inherited the X gene so I'm sending a team to pick them up." Professor Xavier answered as Brandon moved his attention to a picture of the two.

"So who is going on this little field trip, it would be unwise to leave the home unguarded," Brandon spoke his arms crossed as he leaned against the wall.

"Yes well Hank, Scott, Jean, and Ororo will be remaining here. I will be taking Brandon and Logan along with Piotr, Kitty, Amara, and Tabitha." The professor responded as Brandon nodded his head.

"Professor that is a very light team, are you sure you want us to stay here?" Scott asked as he stared at Brandon.

"Since we have class part of the day tomorrow, we can't exactly go Scott," Jean commented as Brandon looked on.

"We will be leaving in two hours, so be ready to leave then." The Professor said as Brandon nodded his head.

Brandon left the room and went over to the elevator heading for the Blackbird only to be interrupted by Piotr.

"Hey comrade what is going on?" Piotr asked as Brandon held the elevator.

"Nothing much, I assume you know about the mission to Kentucky." Brandon spoke as Piotr nodded.

"Da, we just received instructions via telepathy to meet at the blackbird in two hours." Piotr stated as Brandon nodded his head.

"I'll see you there then it seems I will be going on this little field trip. That is as soon as I add something to my uniform here." Brandon commented as he entered the elevator.

Piotr nodded and left to pack a change of clothes. Brandon on the other hand continued down and went to the men's locker room. Opening his locker he pulled out his travel bag that he had assembled before hand. Marines are always prepared to travel at a moments notice, and this was no exception as he made his way to the Blackbird. He carefully made his way there and looked at the plane; it was an interesting piece of equipment. How could a civilian not only afford this but get a hold of a normally not for sale piece of military equipment. It had been heavily modified to this isn't exactly a cheap piece of hardware. He watched as everyone that was coming entered the room, they were all ready early.

"You are coming right marine?" Logan asked as Brandon nodded walking up the ramp and entering the plane.

Brandon nodded and took a seat next to Amara with a large grin on his face. This may be a mission, but it doesn't mean I can't enjoy myself a little was his thoughts as Logan began starting up the plane.

"So how long is it going to take us to arrive at the targeted destination?" Brandon asked as Logan finished the preparations.

"Two and a half hours marine," Logan answered as he started the plane.

Brandon could feel the acceleration, and he couldn't help but laugh as the plane reached cruising altitude.

"Professor like what are Paige's abilities?" Kitty asked as Brandon looked on with interest.

"It seems she can change her skin, but it does require that she peels off her old skin. Apparently Paige has been waiting to join for quite a while but until now her ability had remained inactive." Professor Xavier stated as Brandon nodded his head.

"This shouldn't be that difficult, I mean it is only a simple retrieval," Brandon commented as he looked over at Logan.

"We'll see marine, you never know what happens when we go on these types of missions." Logan answered as Brandon listened carefully.

Brandon sat there for a moment and closed his eyes a little rest couldn't hurt before he reached their destination he thought.

Next Episode: Training and Recruitment part 2

Brandon arrives at Kentucky with the others only to discover problems when someone else arrives for Paige.


	7. Training and Recruitment Part 2

**Author's notes: I'm going to be slowing down some until more people decide to review this story. Many thanks to Agent-Gforhis reviews and discussions about my fic, and also a noteto those of you that are reading. I would like to encourage those of you that do read and dont post reviews to do so. **

Brandon woke up as the trip was beginning to come to a close. It had been two hours, and they had already reached their destination. Brandon looked over to the other seat noticing Amara had decided to take the opportunity to rest as well.

"Hey there, it is time to wake up," Brandon spoke softly nudging her gently.

She yawned and nodded her head. Plane trips weren't exactly his thing either; they were long and for the most part uncomfortable. He watched as they got up making their way to the ramp. Brandon followed the Professor down the ramp where not only Paige and Sam but their family was waiting with them.

Sam had apparently been sent ahead by the Professor to prepare for their coming visit. Brandon watched carefully as Tabitha ran up to the young man, this place appeared peaceful at first glance.

"Sam it is so good to see you," Tabby said as she ran towards and hugged Sam.

Brandon stood there watching as who he assumed were the two siblings mother approached. He thought about moving to intercept her, but he figured since they already knew each other it would be fine. He waited as the two started traveling to a house that was about half a mile away.

"So who is this young man, I don't recognize him from the pictures Sam has sent," Mrs. Guthrie asked as she approached Brandon.

"My name is Brandon Ayers; I'm a part time instructor and a student at the institute." Brandon spoke as he offered to shake hands.

"Now if ya don't mind me askin but how does that work exactly?" She asked as Brandon took his hand back after shaking her hand.

"Well I have a lot to learn, but I also have some expertise that I can pass along to the students thus the title." Brandon spoke as they started to walk towards the house.

"What would this expertise be young man?" She asked as Brandon shook his head.

"I'll let the Professor fill you in about my expertise; I should make sure that there isn't anyone else around. Professor, Mrs. Guthrie if you would please excuse me." Brandon said not wanting to think too much about his discharge.

Brandon left them walking around the perimeter of the house, Logan may be confident in smelling out trouble but I want to make sure that there isn't anything wrong. He looked around not noticing anything out of the usual type of equipment you would find on a farm. He was quickly surprised by Amara as she ran straight towards him.

"Hey did you sleep well princess?" Brandon joked as he teased her a little.

"You do know you are going to pay for that later. Are you okay, you seem to be distracted?" Amara said as her faced changed color a little.

"Yeah, I guess a few old habits are hard to break. Scouting the perimeter and securing the area is just standard operating procedures for marines. Where is everyone else?" Brandon asked as he looked around the area.

"They are all inside talking to Mrs. Guthrie, and Logan is around here somewhere." She said as Brandon put his arm around her.

"So how about we go for a walk around the place, I want to hear about your time at the institute," Brandon said as the two walked together holding hands.

"Well it was a lot of fun at first we had some fun being crime fighters called the Sirens. Then I barely escaped the institute's security system when Mystique caused things to go crazy. Later on Apocalypse managed to escape, and then we went after him with Magneto and his team the Acolytes." Amara said as she mentioned things she thought would be of interest.

"Wait a minute you mean the Bayville Sirens I remember seeing an article about them in one of the newspapers a while back. I can't believe you were one of the members, then again it makes sense. People with special powers before the whole sentinel problem, why am I not surprised the girl I like is one," Brandon spoke beginning to laugh as he watched her expression.

Amara smiled sweetly and Brandon just laughed as the two sat there holding hands. Brandon thought about the remainder of her speech and thought it would be wise to find out about the other people she had mentioned.

"Wait who is this Mystique; I haven't been given the official briefing on all of the enemies or allies that we have." Brandon commented as Amara smiled.

"Well she is a shape shifter that impersonates about anyone to get her way. She normally works for Magneto, but she hasn't been seen lately. She is also Kurt and Rogue's mother," Amara stated as Brandon seemed to look on in shock.

"Wait you mean Kurt and Rogue are siblings and their mother is an evil psycho. Damn that certainly makes things more difficult, not to mention she could practically impersonate anyone on this planet." Brandon said clearly irritated by the disadvantage that Mystique could cause.

"Actually Rogue is adopted," Amara added as Brandon looked on.

Brandon just sat there shaking his head, he felt bad for those two. 'At least my family wasn't psychotic and evil' he thought as he came to the last group.

"What about these Acolytes who are they?" Brandon asked as Amara looked at him funny.

"Well you have already met two of them, Sabertooth, Pyro, Mastermind, Quicksilver and Magneto make up that team. He's probably going to heavily recruit any one whose abilities he can use from here on, now that he has lost Colossus and Gambit." Amara spoke as Brandon sat down on the ground.

"Gambit, who would that, be," Brandon asked as he motioned for her to sit beside him.

"He was a member but I heard he helped Piotr's sister escape and made sure that his family was safe back in Russia. Apparently those two are old friends and he was a hired gun of Magneto." Amara said as Brandon leaned his head back looking at the sky.

"So he is a mercenary or something along that lines, well got to say Piotr makes interesting friends. Then again mercenaries don't normally turn against those that are paying them, unless they aren't being paid enough," Brandon replied as he turned his head toward her.

"I suppose so, but he isn't a bad guy any more. Granted he refused to help out during the Apocalypse problem and hasn't been seen since freeing Piotr's sister," Amara commented as he looked on.

Brandon nodded they sure seemed to have a lot of enemies here. 'Hope we have some good allies to go along with this group of enemies. Amazing how things change in such a short time, who your enemiesand allies are once you pick a side to fight on,'Brandon thought.

"Ok enough business, you need to relax," was all Brandon heard before Amara hugged him.

"Hey what's this for, I must have done something right to earn this," Brandon spoke as she hugged him.

"I just wanted to," was all she said as Brandon smiled.

He nodded and held her as she started to cry. Brandon couldn't believe what he was seeing these were tears, she shouldn't be sad he thought.

"Hey what's wrong?" Brandon questioned as he looked into her eyes.

"I'm just happy that's all," Amara stated as Brandon wiped away her tears.

"Happy, shouldn't that be something else then," Brandon said as he looked at the girl.

"Sorry its just I am little worried that you will leave or…" Amara softly spoke as Brandon shook his head at the comment.

"Well no more tears ok I promise I'll be around for a long time, and I don't want any tears unless they are absolutely necessary. Besides I have no plans now or in the immediate future to leave the institute," Brandon replied with a smile on his face.

The two stood there hugging each other as Brandon laughed. 'If those two saw me now, they would be rolling over in laughter. Brandon Ayers actually concerned and going out with a beautiful young lady, Johnson would have laughed his ass off Brandon thought. Fitzgerald would be laughing to if he saw this display.' He noticed Logan was watching in the distance, but that wasn't a problem right now.

Logan smiled Brandon wouldn't do anything stupid, but he was a little concerned about Tabitha. She was a wild one and even thought Sam could be intimidated, she would just ignore him. He sniffed the air again this time picking up a very familiar scent, this could be troubled was all he thought as he growled.

"Odin, Magma get over here now," Logan bellowed as Brandon and Amara looked over at him and began to run towards him.

"What are those things, and who is that flying?" Brandon asked as three metal balls and a person were quickly approaching the house.

"Its Magneto and his Acolytes are here," Amara said a little afraid that they had arrived.

"Makes sense you said he was desperate for new recruits and he could net one here if he got a hold of Paige. Go get the others, Amara, unwelcome company is my specialty," Brandon spoke as he started to run towards the metal spheres.

Logan jumped down and joined Brandon as he moved to intercept them before they could reach the house.

"Alright marine you and I will have to deal with them until Charles and the others can arrive. Be careful marine, Magneto is a tricky one and he has a lot of power." Logan growled as the two had already intercepted them.

"Well now who do we have here, it seems Charles has a new recruit," Magneto spoke as Brandon looked on as the metal spheres opened.

"So you are Magneto, the guy that kidnapped Piotr's sibling and forced him to work for you." Brandon spoke as his anger started to boil.

"Mutants are superior to humans, join me and help crush the weakness that is the human race," Magneto said with a booming voice ignoring Brandon's earlier comments.

"No chance of that happening this century, or the next," Brandon said as Piotr and the others arrived.

"Charles and his dream will never happen, we are meant to rule over the lesser species. That is the way of nature, survival of the fittest," Magneto continued as he ignored Brandon's comment again.

"Yeah well if I had a dollar every time a psychopath used that excuse than I would be a billionaire. I heard it while I was in Puerto Colon from that terrorist, and now you. Who do you think you are? What right do you have to judge who is superior or not?" Brandon bellowed at Magneto, not showing any intimidation.

Magneto ignored him as he turned to listen to one of his men that he had brought with him. Brandon watched as one of Magneto's men whispered something to him, something that made the man very unhappy. Brandon watched as Magneto used his powers to create a mammoth metal creature right in front of them.

"You were at NRI, you will tell me what happened and you will tell me now," Magneto spoke his metal creature looming over head.

Brandon wasn't exactly sure what to make of this, how this guy knew about NRI. Was he the one behind Reaper, if so why wasn't he here? Brandon decided on a really short remark trying to figure out what he knew.

"Well let's see, I fought a sociopath and he injured a lot of people and then stole a few things that didn't belong to him," Brandon sarcastically said as he looked at the others.

'We are at a real disadvantage here, Piotr and Logan both have metal based abilities and would not be very effective against Magneto. Not to mention firebug and this mind fellow, retreat is also impossible the Blackbird is made of metal and he would just yank it right back. This is going to be bad' Brandon thought.

"Professor we are going to have to fight our way out of here and quickly, the longer this lasts the worse it is for us," Brandon spoke as he looked over the situation.

Brandon watched as the Professor shook his head and wheeled forward to talk with his old friend.

"Eric there is no need for us to fight; we could start a new age of cooperation. A new beginning for us all," the Professor spoke as Brandon looked on.

Brandon observed the others, Sabertooth was his main concern he was clearly agitated and that made him very worried. Agitated people made mistakes more quickly, but so far he had been relatively peaceful probably due to Magneto's influence.

"I'm sorry Charles, but I will not allow what happened with Apocalypse to occur again. I refuse to be weak to anyone and this growing new threat can't be allowed to continue. This new threat has already made its mark, which your young pupil knows well since he was at NRI for the second attack by that man," Magneto spoke as his metal creature moved forward.

"So Eric what are we going to do about this?" The Professor spoke as Brandon moved in front of the Professor concerned about the metal creature.

'This is not going to end well Brandon thought as he prepared to release a very powerful barrier. Granted I don't know how long it will last with four of them and a metal creature in front of me, maybe enough time to think up a new plan.'

"Charles I believe I will let you have this one, she clearly is not as powerful as I hoped and not worth my time. I am much more interested in your other student here, but I can't afford a two front war at the moment. Granted I could win here, but this new threat requires my undivided attention and I cant afford having you looking over me or seeking me out to rescue someone," Magneto spoke as he allowed his metal creature collapsed and Brandon watched as he motioned his men back into their spheres.

Brandon watched carefully as the four disappeared quickly heading over the horizon. This was a good thing; it would have been a disaster with Logan and Piotr here. Brandon just sat down on the ground as his mind raced. What exactly did he know that they didn't? It just didn't make sense, but right now he should just thank God the man decided to leave peacefully.

"What just happened?" Logan asked as the two looked at each other.

"Who cares, a fight at this time and moment would have been devastating" Brandon said as he looked at Mrs. Guthrie.

"Yes at least this ended peacefully, but it does not bold well if Eric is more concerned with someone else than a new recruit." Professor Xavier spoke as they all looked on.

"Ok marine head back to the jet with Amara, Piotr and Kitty while we finalized things here," Logan growled unhappy about the lack of combat.

Brandon just nodded motioning for them to follow him as they walked slowly to the Blackbird.

'He thought about how lucky they were to get off without having a knock down drag out like last time and how come he didn't try to take Piotr back right now. He may have been successful, but it seems I may have sidetracked him' Brandon thought trying to figure things out in his head.

"Comrade are you ok?" Piotr spoke as Brandon face looked a little confused.

"Yeah just fine, what about the rest of you?" Brandon asked as he began walking up the ramp.

They all nodded as they went up into the Blackbird waiting for the others to return. It was going to be a while; Mrs. Guthrie was apparently very attached to her children. Brandon didn't blame her, but it would probably be for the best. While the kids were gone no one would have a reason to return, and the kids would learn how to control their abilities.

"Like what will we be doing for tomorrow's lesson Brandon?" Kitty questioned as Brandon sat in a chair next to Amara.

"Well I think we are going to work on our powers, after seeing Magneto's demonstration I think we are going to need it. Then again I may postpone the lesson until later, today was really draining and I may feel tired after tonight," Brandon answered watching Amara as she yawned.

"Well this is about the same as having monitor duty at the base," Brandon joked attempting to wake everyone up.

Then he looked at the clock it was getting late and he hoped that this little run was over. He was kind of concerned that Alan would just show up while he was gone, but then again he probably knew I left he thought. Alan somehow always knew the specifics of things even when he was no where to be found. He got up taking off his jacket and placed it over Amara as a blanket; she did look cold and was sound asleep by now.

"She looks cold and she is clearly very tired," Brandon spoke softly as Piotr nodded his head.

They were interrupted when Logan, Sam, Tabby, Paige and Professor Xavier entered the plane. Logan quickly made his way to the pilot's seat and started the plane as the others sit down.

"What took so long," Brandon asked as he made sure the ramp closed.

"Our mom was a little worried about both of us going, particuarly after what happened.The Professor had to assure her that we would be safe at the institute," Sam said as his 15 year old sister went to sleep peacefully after sitting in a chair.

Brandon nodded; he was going to get some sleep as he relaxed in his chair. This assignment had ended well for them despite the encounter with Magneto, and the fact was he envied Sam. Sam was going to have family really close by; it was a benefit for both him and his sister. Brandon fell asleep as he thought about all the problems they had experienced today. The plane trip was very quiet with a lot of tired people on board with the exception of Logan.

"Hey marine get up we are back," Logan bellowed waking Brandon up after the trip back.

Brandon got up grabbing his jacket and carefully picked her up making sure that he didn't wake her up. Walking very carefully Brandon made his way up stairs and carried her to the girls' side putting her in her bed and pulling up the blankets.

"Sleep well, I'll see you when you wake up," Brandon whispered softly as Piotr carried in Tabby, and giving Amara a small kiss on the cheek.

Brandon walked out with Piotr and shut the door as the two moved down the hallway and heading to their rooms. The two slowly made their way into the kitchen and pulled out some left over pizza.

"Comrade are you all right, you have been a little more quiet than usual after what happened?" Piotr asked as the two placed their slices in the microwave.

"That thing with Magneto today, something just felt off about it. He was more worried about someone else than us, and that really does concern me," Brandon spoke as he looked at his friend.

"Da, I have never seen him like that before, he didn't even seem to care about me once he noticed you." Piotr said as Brandon nodded his head.

"I know it was like you weren't there and he was only interested in me because of what happened at NRI," Brandon returned unsure of what exactly was going on.

The two sat there quietly eating the food that they had warmed up in the microwave. It was a peaceful time at the mansion, nearly everyone else had gone to sleep.

"Hey Piotr you spent time with Magneto, you got any ideas about what the man is thinking." Brandon asked as he looked over the remainder of the food.

"I'm sorry my friend but I don't know anything. Magneto kept me isolated most of the time so I wouldn't be able to find Illyana," Piotr spoke sad about his loss of contact with his family.

"I'm sorry Piotr I shouldn't have asked that, I meant well but I shouldn't have drug up such bad memories." Brandon answered as he bowed his head slightly.

The two stood there for a moment both bowing there heads at the thoughts that they were having.

"Well let's have some more pizza, and worry about our problems later. We have our problems, but the future that is something we can help decide at least while we are here," Brandon spoke his smile beginning to return.

The two smiled as Brandon got up from his stool waving his hand as he headed to his room for some sleep. Brandon made his way up to the room slowly as he opened the door, cautious of any placed traps that Bobby may have placed. Turning on his laptop Brandon sat at his desk, waiting for his email to come up Brandon smiled when he saw a response.

"Six days from today I will meet you at your new place," Brandon mumbled going over Alan's email.

Well some things don't change no specifics or anything, just like you Alan. Hope you aren't putting yourself at risk over this. Brandon got up turning the light and his laptop off heading towards his bed.

Next Episode: Old Friends Reunited

Five days have passed and Alan is returning with some vital information. The question is can they keep him safe from someone willing to do anything to get the info back.


	8. Old Friends Reunited

**Author's notes: First and foremost many thanks to Agent-G and his support. He has always brought up a lot of good points, and I appreciate his help and comments. Now for those that have reviewed recently**

Multifan: the general is a surprise, but he is another character of mine, and yes there will be a lot of military talk in this fic. Brandon is a marine after all, and it wouldn't be realistic without it. Reaper also has nothing to do with Halloween just someone really twisted that I thought up. Wow you have so many comments I'm kind of impressed, thanks for reviewing every chapter. As for reading Agent-G's fic I never miss them and there just isn't enough space to address everything here that you mentioned in your reviews.

TheFuzzyOne1989: I appreciate the encouragement and yes there will be more Brandon/Amara to come.

Winblades: I appreciate the tilting comment, I never thought about that until you brought it up. You have my thanks for bringing that to my attention. As for the true spirit of the Marines if I ever forget it, I will probably stop writing this fic.

Actiondude: Appreciate the comments; keep up the good art work.

Aaron: glad you like the story so far and as for the Jean thing it will be explained later.

Now for some other news, I'm a college student and as such class is my primary focus. Until I catch up on some class work namely a 20 page research paper and the crap they make us do for teaching here the updates will be a little slower until I finish.

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Brandon flung an energy blast at a target in the danger room; it had been five days since they had returned from the Kentucky mission. He had been training hard, with some help from Logan and Scott, he needed to get stronger. Brandon watched as the level 8 program ended leaving him alone in the room.

"You are definitely improving, you have even found a couple of new tricks," Scott commented as he entered the room handing him a towel.

"I can't just sit around here and do nothing training the others is fine, but I have got to improve my abilities. In the marines my powers couldn't be used very often, but here I can push them to their limits. I can feel my powers increased the more I use them, the more experience I have," Brandon answered as he wiped off his sweat.

"No kidding marine, your skills and abilities have improved a lot since I first saw them," Logan bellowed from up in the control room.

Brandon merely nodded, he was tired but that had been really good exercise and training for him. Increasing his skills and abilities getting stronger, maybe he could eventually become stronger than Reaper. Brandon shook his head all these were just ideas and hopes. Brandon walked to the elevator as Scott caught up to him.

"You know, I haven't seen anyone train this hard before. Not to mention the students are also enjoying some of your training. Particularly since they don't have to train with Logan any more." Scott spoke as the two rode up the elevator.

"I have to be ready for what is waiting in the future; Reaper and I will cross paths eventually. His ideology and the Professor's are exact opposites, the two will clash eventually and I intend to make sure the Professor's wins," Brandon spoke solemnly as the elevator came to a stop.

"So do you really think your friend will show up tomorrow?" Scott asked trying to change the subject at least away from battle.

"Alan never misses an appointment; if he says he'll be here you can bet he will be here." Brandon answered as he started to move to the kitchen.

Scott waved goodbye heading off to meet Jean as Brandon made his way towards the kitchen. Before he showed up here after using his abilities he would be exhausted. Lately it felt like his powers were either improving or weren't as draining as before. Brandon just shook his head, he never did understand much about his abilities, just that he knew how to use them.

"Good morning Brandon," Ororo said with her usual warm smile.

Brandon nodded picking up a banana and sitting down at the kitchen table. Ms. Munroe was like the mother for this family, kind hearted and always looking out for the students. Brandon had to admit that she was probably the nicest person he had ever met, but boy was she someone you didn't want to piss off.

"So Ms. Munroe how are you today?" Brandon asked as he looked through the current newspapers.

"I'm doing very well today, but it just seems the work never ends around here. How are you doing and how did your training go today?" she stated with her usual smile on his face.

"The training went well, granted they did exactly what I asked them to by not taking it easy on me," Brandon replied a smile on his face as he thought about the early training that he had just finished.

Ororo couldn't help but shake her head; Brandon seemed to share Logan's love of destroying the danger room and pushing himself to his absolute limits. Unlike Logan however, Brandon also seemed to enjoy the company of others. The two both looked up when they heard some screaming followed by Bobby running away from the area.

"Get back here Bobby, you are going to pay for this," Jean yelled as Bobby ran through the kitchen and out the back door.

Brandon just watched as Jean ran right after him, shaking his had not understanding what had occurred. It wasn't until Scott ran down the stairs mumbling something about Bobby setting him up that Brandon had figured it out. Bobby had managed to plant some rather unfortunate articles of clothes in Scott's room and Logan had found them. It was hell on earth for Scott and Bobby whose thoughts were picked up by Jean was now on the run.

"Well that is something that you wouldn't normally see, unless you were here," Brandon stated taking a drink of coffee as Bobby was using his ice abilities to stay one step ahead of the two.

Brandon shook his head, walking away from the problem. Scott and Jean could handle this without much of a problem, and definitely do not need my help to catch him. Brandon walked carefully heading towards his room; he was hoping Alan would show up soon. He was worried about him to be honest; Alan had a habit of taking incredibly large risks without considering their effects. He was probably the one person on this world that could get into trouble no matter the situation.

"Hey comrade are you okay, you look a little lost?" Piotr asked as he walked next to Brandon.

"I'm just thinking about my friend; to be honest I am a little concerned that he hasn't arrived yet." Brandon replied motioning for the two to continue the talk in the den.

"I'm sure he is fine, he is after all the best at what he does. Isn't that what you told us," Piotr spoke as Brandon nodded his head.

"He may be the best, but even the best cant…" Brandon was about to continue when the mansion security went off.

Brandon looked at Piotr and both ran down the hall to the security center joining the others. Brandon watched as cameras were brought up and Alan appeared on one followed by a rather large man wearing what appeared to be the armor of a tank.

"Whoa it's Alan and who in the hell is the oversized giant that seems to be following him?" Brandon asked as he watched Alan jump over some branches with the other man in hot pursuit.

"Oh no its Juggernaught, like how did he get out of stasis," Kitty spoke as the others watched the cameras for a second.

"I don't care; this stupid bastard just signed his death certificate. No one attacks my brother in arms," Brandon spoke as he ran out of the room.

"X-Men, New Mutants, Juggernaught must be stopped and Brandon's friend protected from him. He has vital information that we need; Hank you might want to prepare for some injuries," Xavier said as the students nodded and ran out the room.

Brandon ran quickly and found Alan hiding behind a tree with the armored man not to far behind. The two nodded quickly and Brandon watched as Alan threw a flash bang at the man temporarily blinding him. The two met up quickly concealing themselves behind a shed.

"Damn Alan I invite you over and you bring Godzilla with you, what's up with that?" Brandon asked a smile forming on his face.

"Hey it's not my fault, I had to arrive early because he has been chasing me none stop since I crossed into the states. He was hired to retrieve something I brought for you, besides you should have said no other company on your invite," Alan returned his usual smirk in place.

"Well let's get rid of this bastard before he wrecks my new home or injures one of my friends," Brandon spoke as the two looked around for the giant man.

The two nodded moving away just as Juggernaught crashed through the shed. Brandon flung an energy blast at him and watched as it barely affected the giant man.

"Damn Alan you just had to bring the one that looks like he scalped a panzer tank." Brandon yelled as the two dodged a large piece of the shed being thrown at them.

"Hey why don't you stop complaining about the company and show me what you can do," Alan laughed as he fired a 9mm pistol at the man only to see the bullets ricochet off of him.

The two watched as Colossus slammed into the Juggernaught causing him to fly in the other direction. Cyclops fired a blast from his visor hitting Juggernaught right in his chest sending him back even further attempting to use the disadvantage that Juggernaught was in to end this battle quickly. Nightcrawler, Shadowcat and Rogue attempted to get close when Juggernaught sent one of his massive fists at them. Brandon launched a powerful energy blast sending Juggernaught back leaving a small scratch on his armor.

"You pucks aren't a match for the unstoppable Juggernaught," the man spoke getting back up again as Colossus charged at him.

Colossus stood there locked hand to hand with the Juggernaught both attempting to gain the upper hand when Juggernaught picked up Colossus and threw him against the wall. Brandon watched in shock as his friend went flying into the wall that was attached to the main gate.

'That's it no more holding back, he's had his fun,' Brandon thought gathering in a large amount of energy.

He watched as the others attempted to get close and then he saw Amara sending out a large amount of flames hoping to stop him. The New Mutants were beginning to launch their own attacks against the man who claimed to be unstoppable, but the Juggernaught just flung most of them out of the way without a problem. Berserker, Wolfsbane, Boom-boom, Cannonball, and Sunspot were all tossed aside with very little effort from the Juggernaught.

"Hey Brandon they need to get his helmet off, it's the only way to stop that walking disaster," Alan yelled as Brandon fired another blast of energy.

"Great now you tell me, after he just paved his way through my students" Brandon shouted as he saw the Juggernaught charging through the flames and heading straight for Amara.

Brandon ran straight in front of her and placed his most powerful barrier in front of them. Brandon smiled at her watching the sparks fly as the Juggernaught collided with his barrier, it wouldn't last that much longer. He couldn't believe how strong this guy was but at least he was too occupied to notice the others.

'Well at least the fact he is a total idiot balances out the fact that he has all this raw power,' Brandon thought as Rogue and Shadowcat removed some latches on the helmet.

"Amara you better run, this barrier is going to break any second now and I can't protect you after that happens." Brandon yelled not backing down from Juggernaught's attacks on his barrier.

"I'm going to smash both of you runts into pieces," Juggernaught bellowed as he slammed against the barrier again.

"I won't leave you," she replied trying to get closer when Brandon started to flinch and the barrier fluctuated.

I can't let this happen Brandon thought, there had to be something else he could do. He had to do something, there had to be something else I can do. He looked at Amara she was holding on to him, she was scared he couldn't let her get hurt. He watched as Nightcrawler hit the last latches meaning all he needed was something to knock the helmet off.

"That's it you stupid bastard, no one threatens my family." Brandon said charging up one more energy blast diverting his strength away from the barrier.

Brandon looked at Amara, and then back at Juggernaught who had finally caused the barrier to collapse. This Juggernaught guy was slow and a smile formed on Brandon's face as he positioned himself in between Amara and Juggernaught.

"What's the matter, you aren't tired are you moron?" Brandon yelled infuriating Juggernaught.

"Goodbye runt," Juggernaught yelled charging directly at Brandon until a flash bang interfered with his attack temporarily blinding him.

'Thanks Alan, I needed that distraction now for the main course. Now let's hope this work,' Brandon thought charging forward at the Juggernaught as Amara was whisked away by Alan.

Amara watched in awe as Alan moved her out of the way and Brandon launched two powerful energy blast blinding Juggernaught further. Brandon moved in real close and then with a sudden quick movement he sent all of the remaining energy he had in a close range blast. Everyone watched as Juggernaught was actually forced back and his helmet, was pitch black from the attack.

"What was that supposed to do runt, you look exhausted." Juggernaught yelled as Brandon started to smile.

"Yeah well what can I say basic tactics are lost on someone like you, have a nice nap," Brandon commented as Juggernaught's helmet was taken off by Jean with her telekinetic abilities.

Brandon grunted as the two resident telepaths sent the giant reeling, his entire assault had been a faint attack so Jean could remove the helmet in safety. The others had been watching the display, helping the injured, or covering Jean in case he had failed to keep him occupied.

"Well at least we kept the place from going to hell this time," Brandon laughed as he and Alan shook hands.

"Well since the giant is gone, why don't we get to the reason that I showed up," Alan spoke as the Professor wheeled up them.

"Brandon if you and Alan would please follow me we have some people on the way to take care of my half brother," Professor Xavier spoke as they started to head towards the relatively undamaged mansion.

"Hey you might want to gather everyone that is going to hear this meet us there," Alan stated as he followed Brandon.

"Why you in a hurry to get back to wherever it is that you come from?" Brandon asked as Alan shook his head no.

"Just want to spend sometime with you old friend," Alan laughed as they arrived at the Professor's office.

The three walked in as Logan, Ororo, and Hank was sitting there waiting for them. Scott and Jean entered a few minutes later as Alan brought up a picture.

"I'm sure you all know this guy very well," Alan said as he brought up a picture of Reaper.

"Oh yeah we know him, so get on with it Alan," Brandon spoke as he crossed his arms.

"Right ok well this guy seems to work for someone that has managed to remain completely unseen by nearly everyone. He does have a lot of agents though human and mutant both and one is this man." Alan spoke as he brought up a picture on the monitor.

"Well now who is this fellow, he looks vaguely familiar?" Hank asked as Brandon starred at the picture.

Brandon thought back he had seen that man somewhere before, and Logan definitely had a reaction growling out loud at the picture. The picture was of an African American man in his late fifties with some white hair and an army uniform.

"As I was saying this man here is one of his agents and his name is General Thomas Kincaid. Kincaid is an army man by nature, but for some reason seems to be serving some purpose which may be inside intelligence or worse. He is also the main person responsible for Project Eternal," Alan added as Brandon studied the picture.

"If you don't mind me asking, what do you think he is up to?" Scott asked as Alan nodded his head.

"I'm glad you asked that, it is part of the reason I showed up despite helping my friend. You see Kincaid has established a factory here outside of Edmonton, Alberta under the guise of a joint venture between the Canadian and American militaries. What it is manufacturing however, is why I need your help to put it out of commission. Not to mention that there are some mutants being held prisoner there." Alan spoke with a large grin on his face.

"What kind of prisoners are we talking about here bub?" Logan asked as Alan brought up some other pictures.

"I'm sure you are familiar with these two Dani Moonstar and X-23, but these two are also there," Alan spoke as he brought up four pictures.

Logan looked like he was going to go crazy at the mention of X-23 and run right out of the room then and there. The Professor seemed to communicate with him and he stayed there at his place for the moment.

'He definitely wants to go save her, but why what connection does these two have' Brandon thought.

"Who are the other two?" Ororo asked concern in her voice.

"Well that is Noriko Ashida, her powers involve electricity and the last one is well a mystery. I have no idea who he is, just that some how they managed to catch and put him in there. Information is practically unavailable on him which means that they went through some unauthorized sources to get him, probably some black market slaver." Alan spoke as he pressed another button brining up a horrifying picture.

"My God, they actually went through with it those bastards," Brandon said clinching his fist and then slamming it against the wall.

Everyone stood there looking at the picture of a new sentinel and it was hunting the captured mutants. It was a red and white machine with a lot more weapons on it than they remembered when fighting the first one. They watched as statistics and a blueprint appeared in the corner with what appeared to be a name.

"Yeah these four are being used to test out the new Sentinel, HS-95, and what is worse is that they are close to mass producing them. The fact is we don't have much time before its ready, so we should destroy the place now," Alan spoke as he pressed a button causing the picture to disappear.

"Do the damn things still have the same weakness as the experimental model?" Brandon asked as Dr. McCoy looked at the stats.

"It would appear that they have sacrificed maneuverability and armor for more firepower." He commented still looking at all of the statistics.

"Well it is clear that we must rescue those that are trapped, but how will we destroy the plant?" The Professor asked as Brandon and Alan looked at each other.

"You can leave destroying the plant to me; I have been inside and know a majority of the places necessary to destroy the plant without causing to much collateral damage." Alan spoke his smile beginning to reappear.

"No offense bub, but why should we trust you? We don't even know whose side you are on?" Logan spoke as Scott nodded in agreement.

"The only side I care for is whichever one Brandon is on; I don't give a rat's ass about this side or the other one. As far as I'm concerned the two of you can wipe each other out, but if Brandon is fighting someone that is my business. Whoever Brandon fights against that is whoever my enemy is and that is all I ever need to know," Alan answered not backing down from Logan.

"Appreciate the vote of confidence Alan, so Professor what's the plan?" Brandon asked as the Professor looked on taking in all of the information.

"Scott, Logan, Ororo, and Brandon each of you will lead a team into the factory. Logan and Brandon your teams will be responsible for rescuing any one that has been captured there since we don't know their exact locations. Ororo your team will cover and assist Alan as he sets the charges necessary to destroy the place, Scott your team will deal with the external security," Charles spoke as they all nodded carefully understanding the assignment.

"Hey Alan, you think you can handle this?" Brandon asked as his friend merely nodded and laughed at the pending challenge.

"No problem, just like when we were both back in marines and fighting in that jungle hell hole known as Puerto Colon. I would have done this myself but I couldn't safely get all four prisoners out by myself." Alan answered as he left the room motioning for Brandon to follow him.

"Alright everyone this operation will commence in seven hours, makes sure to be ready," Logan barked as everyone left the room so he, Scott, and the Professor could plan the specifics of the operation.

Brandon and Alan both left the room walking with each other not saying a word. They both turned and headed straight for the den.

"Alan this is not good, what are the Joint Chiefs thinking letting Kincaid run wild like this." Brandon said as the two waited in the room by themselves.

"I don't know Brandon; there has been a lot of jockeying for position since NRI. The military leadership is in chaos and the generals that dislike mutants are trying to use this for their advantage. That is why Kincaid is probably being unchecked, the generals that believe mutants can be peaceful are shrinking. Only your grandfather and a few others believe that humans and mutants can coexist peacefully." Alan stated his head bowed taking in the words that had been spoken.

The two stood there taking in everything that had been the said. They grinned, the two had been friends for a long time and this was nothing for them when someone interrupted them. Amara walked in carefully as Brandon smiled and his friend began to laugh.

"So Brandon is this your girlfriend? I'm guessing yes since you so eagerly ran to her defense," Alan asked as he stopped convulsing in laughter.

Brandon put his arm around her and smiled as she leaned her head against his shoulder. The two were a sight for sure and Alan just continued to laugh about this.

"Yeah Alan, I would like you to meet Amara Aquilla, and vice versa," Brandon said as he saw his friends laughter stop.

"Hi Alan, it is very nice to meet you," Amara spoke softly a little intimidated at Brandon's friend.

"A pleasure, can't believe that you are the one that finally landed Brandon here. Let me tell you this guy was as elusive as they come, wouldn't go out very much and now he has a beautiful young lady for a girlfriend. Damn hell must be freezing over and Johnson finally must have won a hand of poker." Alan spoke as he started to laugh again.

Brandon just shook his head; Alan sure did make an impact when he was telling his stories.

'Hope he doesn't tell about that time we had in Atlanta, I still can't go back there because of the incident he caused,' Brandon thought as he looked at a clock. They had two hours until it was time for the operation to begin.

"So Brandon how is this life treating you, hope the food is better than the corp," Alan questioned as Brandon laughed a little.

"Hey this place may lack some of the corps basics, but its home for me now and besides I got more responsibilities here like teaching and giving out the occasional ass kicking." Brandon said as he smiled directly at Amara.

"Really I'm going to have to hear about your time here, maybe talk to your students and share some funny moments about their instructor," Alan commented as Brandon's eyes went wide and Amara gave him an interesting look.

"Who do you work for now a days any way, I know you aren't with the marines any more?" Brandon continued attempting to change the subject without having to go into some interesting past events.

"Sorry old friend, but I can't tell you that right now. Perhaps later when things have calmed down and things aren't as bad." Alan spoke softly.

Amara watched as Brandon bowed his head slightly, she felt a little odd being there with them. It felt like she was a third wheel and the two seem to know everything about each other. Brandon noticed the off look in her eyes and grabbed her hand as he stood up.

"Hey Alan make yourself useful around here, I'm going to go for a walk with Amara. We have a few things that we need to discuss, and don't do anything reckless around here, no matter where you go things tend to end up broken or burning," Brandon spoke as the two left the man there in the den.

The two continued walking as they made their way through the house and out the front door, Juggernaught had been picked up by some police an hour ago and the place was now very quietly with everyone inside preparing.

"Look I know Alan is a little off, but he is a good friend and I couldn't think of anyone else that I would want on this kind of mission. He is the absolute best at what he does, which is spying, demolition, and well getting into trouble in general," Brandon spoke as the two of them continued to walk.

"Were you serious about me being your girlfriend?" Amara asked as she grabbed his hand causing him to stop.

"Yeah I was going to ask you to go out with me, but…" Brandon stammered as he couldn't find the words.

Brandon was surprised as Amara hugged him and small tears came down her face. He smiled he was so afraid he had screwed up right then and there. He didn't know what to do if she had actually been mad at him.

"So what do you say, when we get back from this mission, we will go on a real date," Brandon asked as he wiped away her tears.

Amara nodded she couldn't have been happier; she liked Brandon more than anyone else. She couldn't help but smile as the two stood there holding each other. Someone else also smiled as Alan watched the two a smile appearing on his face. He was quickly interrupted from his spying by Jean who had been sent to find him.

"So you are spying on the new couple huh?" She asked as he jumped back in shock.

"Hey I just wanted to make sure my friend was in good hands, do me a favor tell her to take good care of him. He can be careless and he gets himself into trouble trying to help others, but he is a very good person. Brandon is a good person, one of the best I have ever met, but his good heart gets him into all kinds of trouble. That's how he got discharged from the corp, that and Thompson is a mutant hating fool." Alan spoke as he followed her to the Professor.

"How long have you and Brandon known each other?" Jean asked as she opened the door leading to the Professor.

"About 7 years, I met him when he was a kid and I first entered the marines. You could tell right then and there was something unique about Brandon, but I can't say anything else about it," Alan spoke as he went over to the Professor.

"Alan do you have everything you need to destroy the plant?" Xavier spoke as Alan looked on.

"No worries Professor, you just keep them off my back and get those people out and I'll blow the place straight to hell. I have enough explosives with me to take out that plant and anything else that gets in the way. That reminds me I have one last thing for you, this is Brandon's military personnel file. Figured it would be safer here than in the hands of a few fools that I know of," Alan answered as he moved to leave placing the file in the Professor's hand.

Everyone walked down the corridor; everyone was coming on this mission. No one was being left here as they all walked to the Blackbird and the Velocity. Brandon sat next to Amara and held her hand as the Blackbird began to take off.

"Everyone should get some rest, this mission is going to be really bad," Brandon said as everyone except Logan tried to sleep, it was a 7 hour flight to Alberta.

Next Chapter: Rescue Operation

Everyone arrives at Alberta, but can they act quick enough to save the captured mutants and deal with the new sentinels HS-95 along with a few surprises that are waiting for them.


	9. Rescue Operation

**Author's notes: Appreciate all of the reviews that have been given by everyone. **

**Well let's get this started. Reaper's surprise new ability in this chapter is due to some help from Agent-G. I'm very sorry about earlier I had this placed in my post list, but it was clearly not ready for posting that was completely my fault, I got way to careless and didn't double check to see if it was truly finished. I will always remove chapters if I go back and find them to be not up to my usually high standards. **

Agent-G: Appreciate the heads up on Juggernaught, glad you like who I'm bringing in but be prepared for some surprises. Also appreciate you being honest with me, I appreciate that my friend.

Multifan: Hope you got my email, I appreciate your reviews.

TheFuzzyOne1989: Yes you will be hearing about what happened in Atlanta as soon as I finish writing that one shot. Lots of explosion well I'll see what I can do.

Thanks go out to Actiondude, StoneMan85, and Draconigeno for their reviews. Also on other good news my school work is all done, so be expecting a lot of updates from me including a salute to Veterans/Remembrance Day, and chapter ten. Reaper's side of this story has been postponed due to some time conflicts.

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Brandon sat there in the plane waiting for them to arrive, he couldn't sleep right now. The fact was they were running out of time and Kincaid was about to release a new plague know as HS-95 upon the world. Brandon just sat there allowing Amara to rest her head peacefully on his shoulder.

"Hey Wolverine, do you know this Kincaid fellow?" Brandon whispered knowing the guy had really sensitive hearing.

The only reaction he got was a growl followed by a series of more growls. Great at least he is talkative Brandon thought as he tried to sleep.

Reaper stood there quickly bowing to his master as he awaited his orders. He hadn't fed on anyone in hours and he was growing impatient.

"Reaper that fool Kincaid has been discovered by the X-Men, I still have need of him though. If it looks like he can't handle them then you have my permission to step in. I want Kincaid back here though alive, and you are to follow his orders until you return here," a voice spoke surrounded in darkness.

"I understand master; I will follow your orders. Can I feed before I leave to deal with these insects," Reaper asked as he went to leave the room.

"Very well you can have the human in cell 15 as a reward for your hard work my servant," the voice spoke.

Reaper grinned heading down the dark corridor and towards the jail cell. His master kept many humans and mutants prisoner here for his own purposes. Reaper smiled opening the door revealing a scared young lady. He grabbed her placing his right hand on her face feeling the life force he was gaining, and after 10 minutes of draining he dropped her dead carcass on the floor and left remembering his master's orders.

Brandon watched as Logan brought the plane in for a landing outside of the factory's air defense zone. Brandon watched as the Velocity also landed close by and everyone began to wake up. The LZ was a small clearing about 3 miles east of the factory and it was surrounded by a forest and a small lake.

"So Professor what team is everyone on, we need to get this done before someone in the factory figures out that we are out here," Brandon commented as everyone gathered around.

"Brandon you will be taking Piotr, Amara, and Jean. Wait until you hear confirmation that everything has started and move in." Professor Xavier responded as Brandon nodded in agreement with who he had been assigned.

"Yes sir," Brandon stated saluting and moving away from the Professor motioning for the others to join him.

It was a quick jog for all of them; there was no external security outside of the base. Brandon pulled out a pair of binoculars looking at the base through them.

'This place doesn't look like you normal military bases or a factory there is something different about this place. Black buildings, on top with a barrier bunker type facility underneath it all. Mostly made out of metal, this place doesn't have the usual type of military emplacements, no weapon batteries on the outside or guard post. Not even motion sensors or security cameras watching the outside areas. Either they don't expect any company or they have something else planned.' Brandon thought as he peered through binoculars at the base.

"I got a bad feeling about this, something isn't right here. This place it isn't military designed, someone else built this place." Brandon remarked as the others looked at him, not understanding his response.

"What's wrong Brandon?" Jean asked as he scratched his head and searched the area with the binoculars.

"This isn't a military base, it doesn't have the same military emplacements that any military base should and would have. Not even all of the military bases are completely defenseless, they all have weapons whether you could see them or not. This place only has metal gates and some defensive barriers encircling it," Brandon answered as he pulled down the binoculars.

"So comrade, how long do you think we have until Scott begins dealing with the external security?" Piotr asked quietly as they made their way to the factory/military base.

"Who knows, this is Odin we are in position awaiting signal," Brandon stated as he spoke into his communication microphone.

Brandon watched carefully as Scott moved into range blasting the front gate followed by Cannonball, Nightcrawler, and Beast. They quickly made their way through the weaker security until armored troopers and security droids began pouring out of the factory. He watched as Scott shot a blast into the air signaling it was time to move in.

"Okay we are moving in stay close, remember that our goal is to rescue the captives." Brandon stated motioning for the others to follow.

They all moved quickly until they ran into a security fence which Amara promptly burned through. They moved quickly seeing the entrance they were suppose to take to enter the base being guarded. The door was metal and being guarded by two security droids that seemed about as advanced as those that they fought in the danger room. Brandon quickly fired an energy blast destroying the security droids and motioning the others to follow him inside. The hallways were all metal, even the floor was made of metal.

"Jean, do you think you can get the captured mutants location from this guy," Brandon pointed to an unconscious military guard.

"No he is to far gone, but there are two around the corner that we could use," Jean spoke quietly as Brandon pointed to Piotr.

"Ok Colossus and I will get one of them the rest of you wait here and stay quiet." Brandon said as he and Colossus moved around the corner.

The guards fired their machine guns only to have the bullets bounce right off Colossus' metal exterior. Brandon blasted one and Piotr grabbed the other dragging him around the corner towards the others.

"Hold still, Jean do your thing," Brandon said as Jean placed her hand on the guys head.

"Three flights down level A and we need a security ID card to get in," Jean spoke as the former guard fell unconscious.

"No worries about the key I brought my own," Brandon said as he motioned them to follow him stopping for a second noticing some red steel pipes above them.

'Energy pipes, that's odd for a place like this. Normally you would only see those in the old style of bases, that's it this place is officially not normal. No military man would build a base with these like that, to vulnerable to sabotage.' Brandon thought as they continued through the metal hallway.

They all continued down the hallway only to run right into something none of them had expected. They had deployed the new sentinels to defend the base and they were currently positioned in front of the stair well that they needed to get to level A. The two red and white machines seemed to stand there waiting for anyone to pass by them, it was as if they were guarding critical areas.

"Great they must have decided it was time to let the machines loose. Ok remember these are a stronger type with a lot of firepower but have less armor and mobility. Jean you'll provide defense, the rest of us will focus one machine at a time." Brandon spoke as everyone nodded.

Brandon rounded the corner immediately attracting the sentinels' attention as they opened fire with laser blast and Brandon responding with a barrier. The barrier shown brightly as it absorb all the blast and Brandon quickly removed it to allow Colossus to charge through running right into the first machine and ripping off its right leg. A quick energy attack from Brandon caused the first machine to explode in a bright flash.

"Hey Odin we could use your help over here," Jean yelled as Brandon looked over to see Jean and Amara attempting to hold off the other sentinel.

"Colossus lets go," Brandon yelled tossing a blast of energy at the sentinel causing it to fall back some.

Colossus charged forward attempting to rip off the leg again just like the last one, only this time the sentinel flew up dodging him. Firing a blast of energy at the others Brandon placed a barrier to protect them.

"Holy shit, it's adapting to the tactics we use. Jean can you use your telekinesis to hit that thing with a part of the first one?" Brandon asked irritated about the little surprise that had been left for them.

Jean lifted up a large piece of the sentinel and flung with all the power she could muster. It pierced the machine leaving a large gap which Odin and Magma immediately used to their advantage. Both focused their attacks of energy and flames causing the machine to explode after a long battle.

"Well it seems they haven't worked out all the kinks, it is even weaker than what I read about in some regards. This smart tactics adapter is something that concerns me though," Brandon commented as Colossus moved down the stairway and the others close behind.

Brandon watched on as Colossus stood right next to the door. Brandon looked on, where was Logan wasn't he suppose to help out, the other route he took must have been harder.

"Jean can you check and see if anyone is in the next room and have Jaime send duplicates to pick up the unconscious guards. We don't need any casualties because Alan is going to blow this place sky high," he spoke waiting for a response.

"I only sense one person beyond here and three captured mutants are there too. Jaime and his duplicates are on their way," Jean stated as Brandon nodded and looked at the others.

Brandon kicked in the door and moved in quickly there was no one here, and the others followed him in. Brandon quickly motioned for them to follow him as they took a left and headed for the prison block. Brandon looked up to see Logan, Jubilee, Shadowcat, and Boom-Boom right there waiting for them.

"I guess I can thank you for the lack of opposition, I assume everything went well on your end." Brandon spoke as they all moved towards the prison cell only to be stopped by a massive steel door.

"Anyone bring a key," Jubilee quipped as Brandon just stepped forward placing his hands on the door.

"Yeah I brought one but you might want to take cover behind that wall, this is going to be messy," Brandon spoke as his hands started to glow.

They all nodded running behind the wall as Logan peeked over his shoulder. Brandon stood there focusing the energy and with a quick blast the wall collapsed.

"Man bet you never have to worry about keys Magma," Tabby commented as Amara smiled.

"Yeah he does have a desire to destroy things." Amara remarked as Brandon entered the holding cells checking the area.

"Let's move," Logan grunted as they entered the jail cells noticing three people in the cells.

They quickly made their way in and stopped checking in on the prisoners. Brandon stood there counting there was only three or maybe the fourth was just hiding. It was a rather large holding cell, but Brandon continued to search the area for the forth mutant.

"Don't touch her Magma, she sends electricity through her body. Odin you should carry her, you can absorb energy right." Jean spoke as Brandon shook his head.

"Energy yeah, but electricity I'm not so sure about. I'm not sure what types of energy that I can absorb, do know that lasers can be absorbed and my own attacks. Electricity I'm not so sure about, but where is the guy that was supposed to be here?" Brandon asked as they all shook their heads no.

They all looked around finding only the three young ladies, all three being heavily sedated. While X-23 could probably wake up in the next hour, the other two were out and they needed to know now before everything was done.

'This place, it isn't a military facility it's almost like holy shit this place is almost an exact duplicate of the institute's technology. The security droids came straight from the danger room, and Dr. McCoy, I believe did design a tactics adaptor for the more advanced levels in the danger room.' Brandon thought not happy with his thoughts.

"Colossus, Odin, and I will continue the search, the rest of you are to return to the area. Jean be sure you use your telekinetic abilities to carry Noriko." Logan barked as they all nodded.

Brandon looked over Amara seemed to be a little nervous at the mention that they would separate. It didn't take any time to figure out a few reassuring words were in order.

"Don't worry we will be careful, come on lets go Colossus. I swear that we will back everyone, and I don't break my word." Brandon said as the two ran down the hallway and heading to what had to be the central testing area.

As the three enter they spotted a young man just lying there. Brandon ran forward checking the young man breathing easier when he found a pulse, a faint pulse. Brandon turned him over gently looking over all of the injuries that the young man had. He was clearly of Asian decent, but he was a small young man.

"Damn it he has internal injuries we need to get him out of here now. Hey can you hear me what's your name?" Brandon barked not knowing what had happened.

"My name is Jason Gerber, I'm sorry I just…" the young man said as Brandon attempted to help him regain consciousness.

"Let him go marine, there isn't anything we can do for him now. Besides we got bigger problems to worry about now." Logan growled he could smell someone coming.

Brandon looked up carefully concerned about Logan's senses. He quickly scanned the room; it was a large testing area much like the danger room but without the safety features. His eyes searched the area but he didn't see anything until something moved in the corner and whatever that something was it was big. Looking up carefully Brandon was shocked at how quietly the giant machines moved, if it wasn't for Logan's senses he wouldn't have even noticed them.

'Well let's see what we have here, about nine feet tall and these are definitely a new model. Need to remind myself to thank Alan for not mentioning these; they don't look that strong though. Colored oddly though, who would make something grey and dark red? These things clearly have armor but it doesn't look like much.' Brandon thought as he looked over the giant machines.

"Well I must admit that he was sub par for a mutant and now I have the legendary Weapon X to test my new toy. Not to mention I now have the grandson of General Ayers, how ironic," an old man spoke as he appeared accompanied by two sentinel robots.

Logan growled out Kincaid as they looked at the bald African American man. He was short and he clearly had no regard for life itself as he just laughed about the dead mutant.

"How could you do this, you were sworn to protect the people, the United States, how could you betray them like this? You will pay for this," Brandon bellowed as energy began to flow around him, sparks going off in the middle of the air.

"I have betrayed nothing; I am helping to save my country from the worse threat since the Nazi's in World War Two. Your grandfather can't protect you here, Brandon. I so wanted to use you in testing these sentinels. I would like to introduce you to model HS-96, the new and improved model. I'm thinking of calling them Nimrods when the final test phase is completed, and to think I couldn't have done it without a friend of yours help," Kincaid spoke as Brandon gathered more energy.

"Bullshit Kincaid, the only thing you care about is power otherwise you would realize what you are doing is completely depraved." Brandon barked looking around at the room that clearly had been modeled after the danger room from the institute.

It was with a single motion that Kincaid ordered the sentinels to attack them. Brandon watched as they fired off lasers and missiles as he placed his strongest barrier in front of the three. The attacks collided with the barrier as Kincaid moved to leave heading for another part of the base.

"Kincaid there isn't going to be enough of you to fill a match box when I'm done with you," Brandon yelled going on the offensive launching a massive blast of energy at one of the sentinels.

'How can a nine foot tall machine be this agile and have the armor and weaponry that it has. I refuse to lose to this damn piece of robotics,' Brandon thought as he raised a huge barrier to absorb the laser blast fired off by the second sentinel.

Brandon moved quickly rolling to the left and flinging a blast of energy right at the second one attempting to take on both machines at once. They both seemed interest in Brandon as he was forced back, his anger clouding his normally decent judgment.

"Odin you must…" Colossus yelled only to be interrupted by another sentinel firing a blast of energy at the large Russian.

Logan merely growled letting out his claws attempting to slash the machine only to find out something very important as it released a massive electrical shock sending the wild mutant flying.

"I'm going to crush these bastard machines, and when I'm done your next Kincaid," Brandon roared as he lowered his barrier and threw an energy blast right at the first sentinel.

The blast collided with the sentinel, sending it crashing to the floor and right as Piotr charge the machine attempting to rip off the right arm. Piotr couldn't believe that he felt the shock as he was also flung backwards, you couldn't touch these damn things. Brandon ran forward in front of his friend sending a blast of energy at the first sentinel causing some burn marks to appear on the armor.

"Kincaid get back here," Brandon yelled when Logan got back up jumping on its back and sticking his claws in.

Brandon couldn't believe it Logan had despite the shocks had managed to open a weakness as Brandon ran forward sliding under it and then proceeding to send a blast right into the back of the metal freak causing it to lurch forward destroying it in a bright explosion of energy. Brandon looked up as Logan had managed to get up again and was fighting the second sentinel.

'Must be nice to heal fast, granted I think these things are messing with us. Kincaid must have known all they could do have done is bought him some time to escape.' Brandon thought as Colossus got back up from the attack.

"Hold still you stupid machine so I can blast you," Brandon commented as he was sent back after being hit by a blast from the sentinel and was thrown back into in a wall.

'Damn I'm getting tired of dealing with these things; they have already killed one person in testing. I'm not going to lose, I refuse to lose to these machines,' Brandon thought as he forced himself back up and into the fight.

"Hang on comrade, I'm coming," Colossus yelled charging into the machine forcing it backwards and into the farthest wall of the room.

Brandon stood up his eyes narrowing; this was personal now after seeing his friend being tossed back by the sentinel. Energy crackled as Brandon stood there watching as the sentinel approached him after shocking Colossus away.

"You want power Kincaid, I'll show you power. This is my power and it will crush your little toys," Brandon yelled as he released a massive wave of energy overloading the sentinel's armor plating.

The armor melted away under the sheer force of the bright energy wave causing the sentinel to overload. The melted metal dripped on the floor as Logan and Piotr took cover as the sentinel overloaded exploding in a flash of bright light. Brandon just kept walking moving right through the explosion actually absorbing the energy that was being generated by the explosion. Looking up Brandon noticed the control room that was looking over the testing area.

"Show yourself Kincaid, fine we will do this the hard way." Brandon bellowed running over to the control room that Kincaid had ran off to.

Brandon searched the control room thoroughly looking in every corner for Kincaid finding only a room full of computers and what appeared to be some initial assessment information on the sentinels. The room was full of computers and measuring devices to determine the sentinels' effectiveness. Walking over to the computers in the room Brandon used his energy powers to cause the computers to explode. Brandon ran out of the room clearly angry about the fact Kincaid had managed to escape.

'How did he manage to escape, this is exactly where I saw him run to. I don't understand how he managed to escape; there wasn't a way out of the room that I saw.' Brandon thought as he continued moving.

"He got away damn it, I will find him again. That bastard how he could break his oath like that," Brandon bellowed as he ran up to meet Logan and Piotr.

"Not bad marine," Logan commented as Brandon just shook his head.

"Comrade you need to calm down, I understand Kincaid has angered you but you must think clearly if we still find him here. He might have information that we need to know," Piotr commented as Brandon seemed to calm down some pacing back and forth

"I understand that he might have valuable information but that kid was killed because of him and right now, I want Kincaid's head on a stick. This is not over, not by a long shot." Brandon barked as he went to the place where the young man was.

Brandon looked around the room, the remaining parts of two sentinels rested on the floor in the spherical room. He looked over the sentinel ripping out pieces looking for anything that could help them, but there wasn't anything important left. He activated his microphone attempting to contact Alan to advise him on the situation.

"Alan you read me, are the charges in place? Also be advised Kincaid is loose, shoot on sight, but I want him alive understand?" Brandon stated into his microphone as Alan's voice came over the microphone.

"Orders acknowledge, charges are set and ready for detonation at your convenience. Storm's team is on its way out; we will be waiting for you slacker, try to make this quick. To be honest though I'm ready to send this place back to hell where it belongs," Alan replied as Brandon turned off his microphone.

'Damn it, there isn't anything here that survived it must have been damaged in the attack or it's programmed to destroy crucial parts upon failure. Guess that means nothing for Dr. McCoy to look at, I would have liked to see how advance some of this stuff is, particularly this smart tactics adaptor. Someone has been handing him technology that Dr. McCoy has developed for the institute but how did they get that technology. Not to mention the lack of information they had on the mutants that had captured, this doesn't feel like a military operation. Even black ops keep immaculate records for budgetary reasons in case they have to justify themselves to Congress or the Joint Chiefs.' Brandon thought as he searched the room carefully, looking for anything that could be useful to him later on in his campaign.

Brandon looked around Kincaid was gone, and he went over picking up the young man that had fallen in battle. He couldn't believe that this had happen; they were too late to save this one. He shook his head as the three walked back up, Brandon carrying the fallen mutant's body.

"Comrade, why are you carrying out his body?" Piotr spoke as they continued up the stairs.

"We may not have been able to save him, but at least his body can be placed somewhere free. I'll bury him properly once we get outside; you grab a shovel and return quickly, no need for the others to see this. Enough bad things have happen today; we need to celebrate the few good things that did." Brandon spoke his head bent down as they made their way back up.

"Da, I understand comrade," Piotr answered as they made it back to the main floor.

Brandon made his way up the stairs and turned left leaving the others. Brandon bowed his head as he leaned against a tree; he had carried the body about half a mile away.

"Sorry kid, we should have been here sooner. I promise that Kincaid won't get away with this, I'll put his ass in a casket or the brig before this is all said and done." Brandon whispered to the now dead young man and he looked up to notice Logan and Piotr were quickly approaching.

They all looked at the body, and nodded in agreement. This was something that had to be done as Piotr pulled out a shovel.

"Let's do this," Logan grunted as Brandon used an energy blast to dig a deep hole and then placing the body inside carefully.

The three took turns burying the body and when it was finally buried fully they bowed their heads slightly. The young man was being buried in a close by forest, the best that they could do considering they didn't want to upset the others by bringing back a dead body.

"May your soul find peace with God in heaven, I wish you could have lived to see a better era," Brandon said as he walked away, Piotr and Logan following him.

The three walked together and approached the landing site as the others celebrated their victory. Brandon lifted his head just as Alan pressed the detonator destroying the factory in a large explosion, and Brandon watched as the buildings burned. Nothing pleased Brandon more than watching the place burn away, but he still had more questions than answers.

'Only one death, out of all this and it is or was the one person who didn't deserve this. Not to mention how in the hell did Kincaid escape?' Brandon thought as Amara walked towards him noticing his aloof and upset behavior.

"Hey are you okay?" Amara spoke as she grabbed his right hand, he was shaking.

"I've had better days, just concerned about this Kincaid fellow. He escaped apparently, but I don't know how. Not to mention everything about this place was just off, it just doesn't feel right," Brandon spoke softly only telling half of the truth.

Amara looked at him, something was wrong he wasn't his usually happy self. He seemed so dark and alone, does this happens when he enters a battle. He seems to be upset and distant from everyone right now. She hugged him tight and watched as he actually let out a few tears.

"Thank you, Amara," Brandon spoke as he hugged her back, "I needed that."

'There is no need to ruin this celebration it is a victory, a small one, but a victory nonetheless. They have earned this; it was a hard fought battle for them. I can't ruin it just because I believe this is a false victory. This place didn't have the right setup for a military base or a factory. There wasn't an assembly line anywhere that I saw, which tells me someone set this place up for us to destroy. I just can't believe Kincaid is such a heartless bastard; I can't wait to find out who is pulling his strings' Brandon thought.

"Are you sure your okay, you aren't injured are you?" Amara questioned as Brandon looked over at her.

"I'm fine I just have a few things that I need to think through, battle is about constantly adjusting to changing information. I'll teach you all how to do that later," Brandon answered as Amara looked at him unconvinced with his response.

"Okay if you say so, but if something is bothering you please tell me okay?" Amara stated as Brandon laughed a little at her comment.

"Okay, I promise that once I go through all this info that if it bothers me to much I'll talk to you. Well we should be celebrating right, come on Amara lets go we should be celebrating," Brandon continued understanding the fact that despite a small loss it was still a victory.

'I'll tell you eventually Amara but I don't want to worry you right now. We can all enjoy this small victory we have been given, I don't know if it is a victory. It feels like we just did them a favor by eliminating that place.' Brandon thought as he walked up the ramp to the Blackboard with Amara holding his right hand.

The two walked carefully up the ramp and into the Blackbird, the others were also boarding the transport. Brandon sat down carefully as Dr. McCoy made sure the three that they did retrieve were in good shape. Brandon watched as Logan started up the plane and then put in the coordinates for home. The Blackbird and Velocity both took off in a quick blur, quickly reaching cruising altitude.

"Brandon can I talk to you for a moment, it is about the fourth prisoner that was being held in the factory or military base." the Professor requested quietly nearly everyone else being asleep.

Brandon nodded as the two went to the back of the Blackbird shutting the door. The only others back here were three knocked out people and Dr. McCoy.

"Brandon what happened to the fourth prisoner?" The Professor asked as Brandon bowed his head.

"He didn't make it Professor, we made sure his body was at least free and that he received a proper burial." Brandon answered a small tear streaming down his face.

"I see well that is very sad news to hear, but we can take comfort in the fact that it was his sacrifice that allowed the others to survive. You see Brandon I went into Noriko's mind so I could control her powers, he volunteered so that they wouldn't have to go," Professor Xavier spoke as Brandon nodded silently.

"An honorable death, but it was something that should have never happened. The Joint Chiefs should have never allowed that lunatic the power that he has," Brandon whispered as he moved back towards the door.

Brandon walked silently back to his chair, good things had happened today despite the loss of life. The sentinel factory was out of commission before they could begin mass producing the HS-95 or 96 models. Not to mention that they saved three of the prisoners, but it was the one that didn't make it that bothered Brandon.

"Hey marine, we did a good thing here today don't forgot that. Destroying that factory and rescuing those three also helped matters. Don't forget to celebrate the victory that we did have," Logan whispered as he turned over flight control to the Professor.

"I understand that, just wish that hadn't happened, I swear that I'm going to blast the person that is pulling the strings for this," Brandon growled unhappy about the thought of someone pulling strings like this from afar.

Brandon looked on; everyone else had gone to sleep with the exception of Alan.

"Hey Alan what will you do now?" Brandon asked motioning him to head for the back of the plane.

"Well I figure a friend of mine could use some intelligence information on our mutual enemy. Your enemy is my enemy, so the question is what do you need me to do so I can help you win?" Alan remarked as they shut the door, Logan was with X-23 but he didn't pay attention to the two.

"I have something I need you to do then, I want you to investigate who is really running things. I know it's risky and desperate, but it must be done for all of us. The fact that they took prisoners means that they are escalating their tactics, soon they will become even more aggressive." Brandon said as he bowed his head.

"No problem Brandon, I understand completely, no one or thing will stop me from accomplishing this. I swear I will find out everything you need, so we can put a stop to this and if I run into that bastard Reaper or Kincaid I'll put a bullet in between their eyes." Alan stated his smile still there.

"Whoever is running this show, he has powerful allies humans and mutants both. I'm going to need even more powerful allies in to be victorious, and you are the best start. Granted there is one last thing that I am going to need, I need you to see if you can arrange a meeting with my grandfather. I need him to answer some questions and I'm going to need his help." Brandon replied with a tone of melancholy in his voice.

"Hey I'm just the beginning Brandon, you got all these people here to help, and I'm sure General Ayers will help as well. I'll get started on this as soon as we get back, with me on your side how can you lose?" Alan returned starting to laugh.

The two started to laugh, they may be from different worlds but they were friends and this war was just getting started. Brandon watched as Logan just stood watch over X-23, he would have to ask Amara about them later.

"Something is bothering me about that place though, I get the feeling they wanted us to destroy it. Did you notice how there weren't any external weapons batteries or security systems?" Brandon asked wanting his friends opinion on the issue.

"I noticed that to, that place was clearly not a normal military base. It might be something I need to look into, I only found the place by spying on that bastard Kincaid. I'll see what I can dig up from my usual sources." Alan answered understanding his friends concern with the poor security and lack of firepower that the base had deployed.

"If you ask me by sending you out, I'm just asking for trouble, who knows what you'll bring to the mansion next time," Brandon answered as the two continued laughing.

"Hey that was not my fault; besides with Juggernaught gone who is he going to hire the Green Giant. You can bet he is going to pay for sending that giant after me, maybe a little bomb in his next base for sending that freak after me." Alan answered as the two looked on.

'I'm not going to tip my hand on the technology leak; we might have a traitor here and if I start pointing fingers, who know what will happen. I'll have to look into on my own without any help,' Brandon thought as he turned to face the clock.

The two stood there looking at a computerized clock in the back. The plane trip was almost over and it would be time to for Alan to leave.

"Good luck Alan, I know you'll leave as soon as we land. I appreciate your help my friend," Brandon barked as the two stood there shaking hands.

"Hey I don't need luck, I've got skills. Besides we made that promise back in Puerto Colon, I intend to keep it, semper fidelis old friend." Alan commented as the two waited for the Blackbird to land.

"Semper Fi," Brandon barked as the two stood there side by side.

Next Chapter: Setups

The rescue operation has ended, and Brandon ends up hatching a new plan to help Piotr.

Info on Jason Gerber is at this website: http/ 


	10. Setup

**Author's Notes: I want more reviews, more reviews please the more I get the faster I will post updates. **

Agent-G: Thanks for the help, keep up the honest reviews I expect nothing less from you my friend.

Multifan: Glad you like the Nimrods expect to see them in later chapters. Expect the unexpected with me, I like surprising people.

Actiondude: Appreciate your comments; Reaper will be making his move very soon that I promise you.

Also thanks to everyone that has been reading, but not reviewing. I would appreciate your comments as well so review the story. In other news Reaper's side of the storywill be posted on Mondaysorry it took so long but I had to edit it down some.

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Brandon watched his clock carefully it had been two days since they had returned from a hastily executed rescue operation. Brandon looked carefully he had a meeting with the other adults tomorrow going over the training schedule, school was about to start up again and it had to be revised. Alan had left quickly disappearing into the winds to carry out his new assignment. Brandon quickly dressed himself and headed downstairs for breakfast.

"Good morning Brandon," Ororo spoke as he entered the room grabbing a bowl.

"Morning, so what are your plans for today?" Brandon spoke as he finished preparing his breakfast of cereal and a banana.

"Well I have to take our new student to the mall; Noriko has decided to stay here at the Institute. Dani has returned to live with her grandfather despite the fact that she was very interested in staying. Apparently after a tribal ritual she will be allowed to come here," Ororo spoke as Brandon ate his breakfast.

"What about the other one, with the military designation for a name?" Brandon asked as he finished his cereal.

'Last thing I need is a mini-Logan running around here, but if she stays at least that improves our odds adding someone with a military background. We could use all of the help that we could get; then again she may not be interested not like we can order her to stay.' Brandon thought as he looked over the newspapers the institute received.

"Logan is trying to talk her into staying here, but I don't think it is going well. X-23 has been here before she has a difficult history and these recent events don't help matters." Ororo answered as Brandon looked at the newspapers that were there.

'Well at least the Bugle is spouting its normal amount of trash like always. Nothing about the factory though, seems some people don't want anyone to know what is going on, maybe I should talk to this X-23. Things are getting to dangerous out there especially since our last victory was a hollow one to say the least.' Brandon thought.

"I see, well I better get ready for the morning meeting, have a good day Ms. Munroe," Brandon spoke as he left the room his thoughts turning towards the battle a couple days earlier.

'Someone had to supply Kincaid the information and specs of what Dr. McCoy was developing. There is no other way to explain the things that I noticed in that place. We either have a traitor, a listening device or another type of intelligence gathering device here. The question is how do I go about finding such a thing without alerting the others, especially if one of them is the spy and I have to guard my thoughts from both Jean and the Professor.' Brandon thought, for the past two days he had run the battled that had occurred over and over again in his head.

Brandon didn't even notice Piotr coming his way as he walked down the hall until he nearly ran right into the soft spoken Russian. Brandon looked up noticing that his friend seemed to be very happy to see him.

"Hey Piotr, how's it going?" Brandon asked as Piotr smiled about something.

"I am doing very well comrade, I have a favor to ask you though," Piotr said as the two walked toward their usual hangout in the den.

"Oh really, what do you need my friend, hope it is something I can help you with," Brandon questioned as he sat down on the couch.

"I want to ask out Katya, but I could use some help. I'm not exactly the best at these types of things." Piotr replied as Brandon started to shake his head.

"Really ok here is what we will do…" Brandon whispered as Piotr just nodded his head to what Brandon was saying.

The two stood there for a minute and laughed, this was quite a plan. It did however have one fatal flaw, but Brandon figured he could get a certain someone to help him. So long as Amara is willing to go, this could be beneficial to everyone.

"You and I both will make sure Kitty is on board and I'll make sure that Amara will come along ok," Brandon continued as he grabbed the remote.

The two stood there chatting as Scott walked into the room. Brandon nodded his head and motioned for Scott to come join them. Brandon watched as the man sat down beside them, and they began to laugh as he stumbled over words.

"Relax Scott; we are just chilling out right now. So how are things going with a certain red head?" Brandon asked as Scott finally relaxed a little.

"Things are going well, it is difficult with us working such hectic school schedules and going on missions though." Scott answered as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"Well Piotr, at least we don't have school problems, that would be a nightmare. Considering I hate math and the only thing I know about chemistry is how to make stuff go boom," Brandon joked as the two laughed.

"Comrade have you decided when you are going to pop the question as they say here in the States?" Piotr questioned Scott turning a bright red color at the question.

"Well I'm not for sure, hey Brandon would you be interested in joining the X-Men training session?" Scott asked changing the question away from his relationship.

"I think I'll stick with my solo training for now, but thanks for the offer. Besides teaching the New Mutants and training alongside them really wears me out after my solo training," Brandon spoke as he thought about how that was going.

"Well anytime you want to join, let me know. Hey we should get together with Logan and plan out the new training routines for the students," Scott said as Piotr turned white at the mention of new training.

'New training routines would be a good idea; we need to push ourselves further. I'm not for sure what kind of sentinels will pop up now, not to mention Reaper and Kincaid are both threats. Both serve the same master; maybe if I can cut off the head I can end this little war game before the others get dragged into a full scale war.' Brandon thought as he looked over at Scott.

"Name the time and place, I'll be there. Cant wait to see what the three of us think of," Brandon spoke an evil grin forming on his face.

"Hey Scott, we will continue this later. Come on Piotr, we got things to do and plans to follow through on," Brandon spoke his grin still there on the face as he started to leave the room.

Piotr nodded following the man as they walked out of the room and headed upstairs. Brandon quickly ran through his plan in his mind, he would speak with Kitty first and then he would talk with Amara. She would be easier to convince, just turn on the ole Ayers' charm he thought as the two approached Kitty's room. Brandon watched as Piotr knocked on the door and the short young lady invited them in.

"Wait you have a private room, I thought you shared with Rogue?" Brandon asked curious about a previous incident.

"Like she occasionally stops by, we have a borrowing system worked out for some things." Kitty said in her usual peppy tone of voice.

"Cool, hey listen I need a favor. Amara and I are going out tonight but we have a friend who we were going to double date with, but his date canceled. I thought you would be a good match for him." Brandon commented as he watched Kitty's reaction.

"Like ok, but if he's a total loser you are going to owe me one, big time," Kitty spoke as Brandon nodded his head in understanding.

Brandon looked at her and then at Piotr. 'I hope you survive this Piotr because if you don't, Kitty might decide to call in this favor. That literally scares me and I have actually seen combat' Brandon thought carefully.

"Thanks Kitty I appreciate it, the three of us will be waiting in the lobby in two hours. Your date will be here by then I promise, come on Piotr, we still have to deal with that other problem and you promised to lend me a hand." Brandon stated cutting her off before she could ask any more questions.

Brandon carefully left the room with Piotr, a smile on his face. 'This was the hard part or at least he thought it would be Amara shouldn't be that difficult. Granted those are some famous last words' Brandon thought as he motioned Piotr to watch his back. He knocked on her door and received an unexpected sight as the door opened.

"I'll come back later," he stammered as he stared at her in nothing but a towel.

Brandon did an immediate about face leaving the room his face red from what he had seen. His black hair had grown some but even it couldn't hide his reaction.

"Just give me a minute and I'll be ready ok," was all he heard as he shut the door and nearly collapsed as the door shut.

"Comrade are you all right?" Piotr asked stunned that his friend seemed to be somewhere in between conscious and unconscious.

"Never been better Piotr, I think that we should wait here a few minutes." Brandon spoke a dreamy look on his face.

Piotr nodded Brandon looked like he was halfway in heaven with a very large smile on his face. I don't think I have ever seen him this way Piotr thought as Brandon just kept on smiling as he leaned against the wall. Amara, now fully clothed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt, opened the door and Brandon entered the room while Piotr kept watch.

"Hey miss me," Brandon asked as he hugged Amara and gave her a small peck on the cheek.

"Of course I did, so what's going on," she asked noticing his rather large grin on his face.

"Ok here it is, I want you to go out on a date tonight with me. Remember my little promise after the mission we would go on a date." Brandon said as he thought about the way to word how Piotr and Kitty would be joining them.

'Now here comes the hard part, talking Amara into a double date with Piotr and Kitty. Well I better get to the main point before she decides to change her mind.' Brandon thought as he moved closer to Amara.

"Now before you answer, I did a favor for Piotr and set him up with Kitty without her knowing it. This will be a double date but this whole thing will fall to pieces without you, so how about it." Brandon added as he watched her waiting for a response.

"Ok, but you can believe you will owe me a favor for this. Now get out of here, I have to get ready for my date," Amara spoke with a smile as Brandon bowed his head slightly.

"Just as long as this favor doesn't get me killed, you wouldn't have a boyfriend then." Brandon answered with a smile kissing her cheek and running out of the room leaving a blushing Amara behind.

Piotr watched as his friend ran out and followed him quickly to his room. He watched as Brandon laughed and smiled giving Piotr the sign that everything had gone well.

"I appreciate this comrade, without you none of this would have been possible," Piotr spoke as Brandon stopped laughing.

"It's no problem at all, but we better start getting ready, we only have an hour before this thing gets rolling. I assume you have everything we need including transportation to get us where we need to be," Brandon spoke as Piotr nodded leaving the room so he could get ready.

Brandon opened his closet carefully and looked at his options for this date. He had his dress uniform, but that was for special occasions maybe something a bit more low key. He pulled out a white dress shirt and a pair of black dress pants.

'This should be just the right thing to wear; I'll bust out the fancy dress uniform later. I wish I didn't have the previous battle running through my head it makes things so much more difficult and I can't focus on the tasks at hand.' He thought looking over the clothes he had chosen.

"Well before I get in the shower I better make sure that Bobby hasn't tried any additional traps," Brandon muttered to himself as he checked finding nothing out of the ordinary.

Brandon laughed as he got into the shower only to be disturbed 15 minutes later by his laptop chirping you have mail. Brandon shook his head; things had been so busy lately he hadn't even bothered to check his email. He looked on in shock his grandfather would be arriving in two weeks to meet with him. This was great news Brandon thought then wondered how he would explain a few things to his grandfather.

'I have a lot of questions grandfather, where do you stand in this matter. How many more of these new varieties of sentinels are being developed? What exactly are you up to grandfather you refuse to contact me until now, you have to be up to something big that's the only time you ever go incommunicado. The biggest problem of all though will be introducing Amara to you; the last girlfriend I introduced caused a disaster. That poor girl ran off screaming in horror from only meeting with you for an hour. Still I need to know if I can trust you or not, in fact I need to know who I can trust and who I can't trust,' Brandon thought as he looked at his laptop.

"Well this is probably the best news I've had in days, so you finally have decided to make an appearance," Brandon mumbled as he started to get dress.

'I know I can trust Alan, he is my brother-in-arms after all. Amara and Piotr can both be trusted; I guess the question is who I do not trust around here. Rogue is shy but I don't think she is the traitor type and I just don't see anyone willingly betraying anyone around here. That does leave other methods though such as telepathic tampering, according to the military files that I read when I was in the corp some of the more powerful telepathic mutants can do mind control. I could also be dealing with Mystique; she is undetectable by everyone at the moment.' Brandon thought as he sat down in his room.

"What else is there to deal with, I refuse to believe my theory that there is a traitor here. I have to be missing some vital piece of information," Brandon muttered to himself thinking out loud as he paced in his room.

'Mesmero and Mastermind are both possibilities for mental control but there are countless other mutants with telepathic capabilities. As far as I know it could be one that hasn't been listed, Mystique is just too damn hard to defend against unless I think of some way to detect her when she shifts forms.' Brandon thought continuing to determine how to gather more information.

He looked up at the clock and then made his way to the Professor's office. He needed to inform the Professor that his grandfather was coming to visit. He knocked once and heard permission to enter ringing through his head. Brandon opened the door slowly and nodded to the professor as he took a seat.

"Professor, I wanted to let you know that my grandfather will be here in two weeks. He has finally managed to find a way to make it here, I just wanted to give you the heads up," Brandon spoke as he smiled gently, he was happy that his grandfather was coming here, but it did bring up a few issues.

"I see well I will inform the others that your grandfather is coming and that they should be prepared for his visit. I think that this will be very good for you, it has been a very active time since you have arrived," Professor Xavier spoke as Brandon nodded leaving the room.

Brandon smiled as he walked out of the office, moving towards Piotr's room. Brandon looked at the old grandfather clock that was out in the hall, he had 45 minutes until it was time to meet in the hall. He knocked on Piotr's door and since no one answered he left, but ran into a very lost Noriko Ashida.

"Uh hello, could you please show me where the kitchen is? Is that right my English is not as good as it should be," Noriko asked searching for words in Japanese to English dictionary.

"Sure no problem follow me," Brandon spoke as he started to walk noticing her gauntlets.

"Tell me something, what is up with those gauntlets of yours. I haven't seen anything like them, they look a little on the heavy side to be honest." Brandon asked as she followed him close behind.

"Well my powers are a little out of control, I think that is how you would say it. This guy named Forge came up with them to help control my abilities, and they aren't as heavy as it could be." Noriko said as Brandon nodded his head understanding the problem.

'Poor girl captured by that freak Kincaid then gets bootstrapped into wearing what that Forge guy came up with, he might be out of his mind after seeing the results of this. I understand the need for control but there had to a better way, particularly after everything that has happened to her. Guess I will just have to deal with it, since she seems satisfied with the results,' Brandon thought as he continued to walk with the blue haired young lady.

"Believe me that is one thing that I understand, you should have seen me when my powers first activated. It was really something, I'll be sure to tell you all about it sometime but we have arrived at your destination ma'am." Brandon spoke as the two entered the kitchen.

The young lady nodded her head as Brandon moved to the door and smiled as she joined a few of the others that were there. Ray, Roberto, Jaime, Jubilee, and Paige were all sitting together talking about recent rumors or juicy gossip that had been flying around the institute.

'So this is where all of the damn scuttlebutt around here starts, good to know if I ever need to start a rumor. I still remember that day and time when my powers first activated that was something I will never forget. It feels like it has been years since they activated, but until coming here I never really put them to good use. Then again I better get to the lobby; Amara might barbeque me if I'm late for our first date' he thought walking towards the lobby noticing that Piotr was already there waiting for everyone.

"Looking good Piotr, see you busted out the good stuff for this. Its definitely looks good on you, a good start for both of us tonight I suppose," Brandon commented as he and Piotr clapped hands.

"Thank you comrade, I made sure that everything is ready like we planned. I don't think we will have any difficulties tonight." Piotr remarked as Brandon nodded his head.

"Hey you look ready, just remember what I told you earlier and you will be just fine." Brandon stated as the two waited for their dates.

The two watched the stairs as Amara ran down them wearing a very nice blue blouse and a black skirt. Brandon just stood there grinning; she looked great he thought only to be blocked from his view as Kitty entered his view.

"No way is my date Piotr, I was like hoping you were going to ask me out," Kitty screamed as Brandon thought about doing the duck and cover.

"Glad you approve, now should we be on our way before…" Brandon spoke as they all turned to leave only to run into Logan.

'Damn how in the hell does he do that, right when we are about to leave Logan shows up. It's almost as if he has anti fun radar or something, its freaky even Alan doesn't have this kind of skill. It's kind of weird that of all people he is standing there waiting for us, and not the Professor. Logan is on whole different level; even the best marine couldn't match this guy.' Brandon thought disturbed by the fact that Logan had interrupted them.

"You are all to be back by the midnight curfew understand marine," Logan growled as Brandon and everyone else shook their head yes.

"Oh yeah I understand completely," Brandon replied as they all headed to the car.

Piotr got in the driver seat after Brandon and he opened the car doors for their dates. It didn't take to much longer for the four to be on their way to a coffee shop next to the park. Brandon spent the entire car ride gazing at his very lovely date, not taking his eyes off of her.

"Ok Amara, why don't we leave these two alone and go for a walk?" Brandon asked as Amara nodded her approval.

It was an interesting walk for Brandon, the park had a lot of greenery and he got nervous around a lot of areas that could provide cover. The two walked along a well lit path surrounded by trees and a small pond with yellow flowers not to far from them.

'Any idiot that attacked him would be on the receiving end of something very unpleasant. Anyone who interrupts this night with Amara will be signing a death certificate because I have a promise to keep.' he thought as the two looked over at the pond.

"So do you want to talk about what happened at the factory?" Amara asked as Brandon looked at her cautiously.

"Not really, I take it the Professor told you what happened to the fourth captive," Brandon spoke carefully as Amara nodded following him off the path and towards the small pond.

"Yeah, he told us all what happened when we returned from the mansion. It was a little unusual, that we had returned without all four of them. That's when he told us why you, Piotr and Logan had disappeared for a while." Amara spoke as Brandon bowed his down starring at the reflection that was being shown in the water.

"Let's talk about this some other time, this is a date we should be having fun," Brandon answered his usual smirk returning as he bent down picking a small flower from its spot.

Brandon moved slowly back up putting his right hand on Amara's face caressing it slowly as he put the flower in her hair. She watched as he just smiled seeming having a good time just standing there with her.

"Well we should head back, its almost time for the reservations at that restaurant Piotr called." Brandon said as Amara smiled sweetly at the young man.

"Okay," Amara answered a little surprised that Brandon didn't make his move and kiss her.

Amara nodded and smiled, she was happy just being with Brandon as the two walked back towards the coffee shop. She watched as he laughed a little at Piotr, who was having his hands full with Kitty.

"I don't envy Piotr one bit, that girl could give the 82nd Airborne trouble." Brandon joked as Amara looked at him quizzically not understanding what he had just said.

"What exactly is the 82nd Airborne?" Amara asked as Brandon turned pale at the mention of her not understanding that.

"Oh don't worry about it, just a division of military personnel. I should really learn to leave work out of pleasure," Brandon answered forgetting that Amara knew very little about the U.S. military.

Brandon paused for a moment just watching his two friends talk through the window. It was probably a good conversation at the moment until Amara grabbed him, forcing him to turn away from the window.

"Please tell me why you like me so much, I mean you could have gone after Jubilee, Tabby, or anyone else at the institute, so why me?" Amara asked as Brandon stopped moving and turned around to face her, his smile fading some at her comment.

"Do you remember when I first woke up, I was scared out of mind to be honest with you but someone was there trying to comfort me. I like that about you, you took time to watch over me even though you didn't know me. It also helps that you are very beautiful, and I really like the personality you have. So why do you like me so much," Brandon said his usual smile there as he talked.

"You are kind, cute, and you are always running out to protect your friends and family. There is another reason I like you though, you are also the first guy to see me as something more than my title, as a person. Everyone has always looked at me as the spoiled little princess, but you never seemed to have a problem with it. You just treated me like another person," Amara answered a bright smile on her face as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"No one understands that better than me, I was always called the general's grandson and that's how everyone saw me and at times still see me. When I was younger, all of the base children were told by their parents to avoid you just because the general was my grandfather. For almost all of my life, all I've ever wanted to be treated is just like everyone else and that is what I got when I finally joined the marines." Brandon acknowledge as Amara grabbed his right hand.

"I also have a thing for that modified uniform you wear around the institute. You look really good in it," Amara teased as Brandon flashed a predatory grin.

"Really," Brandon quipped smiling a sharp grin, "I kind of liked your uniform more, nothing like black spandex."

The two looked at each other neither one moving until Amara grabbed his shirt and kissed him. The two sat there enjoying their enjoying the kiss both seemingly enough lost in the moment. Brandon broke away for a moment to catch his breath moving a stray strand of hair out of Amara's face with his left hand and then went forward to kiss her again. The two kept going until Kitty saw what was happening from the window and phased herself right outside to comment on what was happening.

"Uh do you two like want a room?" Kitty asked Piotr not far behind her.

"Whoa where did you come from?" Brandon asked completely unaware that the two had managed to sneak up on him.

"We were in the coffee shop remember comrade, Katya just had to come outside after witnessing that display," Piotr commented as Brandon just shook his head a few times.

"Like way to go Amara, he forgot we were even here. Wow I didn't think it was possible for a marine to blush," Kitty commented as both she and Brandon blushed at the comments.

Brandon just started laughing, this was hilarious to him. 'Caught by one of my best friends and his girl friend, oh I will never hear the end of this' he thought.

"Comrade we should get going, or we will be late for the reservations I made earlier." Piotr remarked as the four started to walk to the car.

They all got into the car and drove off with Piotr at the wheel heading towards the restaurant that Piotr had made reservations for the four of them. As they walked into the restaurant, the owner went up to them intercepting them.

'Way to go Piotr, I haven't eaten at a place this nice since the last Marine corp formal dinner. This place is nice, fancy silverware, fake French waiters, and very pricey food. Just like any fine restaurant you would go to, unless you had 400 marines waiting to chow on food,' Brandon thought as he looked around the restaurant finally noticing the manager that had walked up to him.

"We don't serve your kind here freaks," he spoke as Brandon walked right up to him.

"What's the matter, good ole American money not good enough for you? Maybe we are contagious, or maybe I just need to kick your racist ass." Brandon barked as the others started to turn around to leave.

'People like this think they are better than everyone, what right do they have to turn us away. This is the one of the finest restaurants in town; I should beat the living hell out of this guy for ruining my plans.' Brandon thought as he started to growl and he clenched his hands.

Brandon noticed that the others were leaving and he turned around to leave as well. This sucked just because of what they were; they were turned around and refused service just because of their genes. They all got back in the car and Brandon bowed his head down.

"I'm sorry everyone, I just can't stand to see this. It is such a sad sight to see, does anyone know where they will serve us?" Brandon asked as he apologized for his previous actions.

"Its ok we can always go to the diner, they never refuse to serve anyone there," Kitty answered as Piotr started to drive again.

Brandon merely nodded as he put his arm around Amara and started to hug her. Things were never like this back in the corp, but then again I wasn't exactly open with my abilities. Brandon merely watched as Amara held him, she was smiling and she was happy that is what is important. He watched as Piotr pulled into another restaurant, this one would hopefully serve them. It was just one of those fifty style dinners that had recently come back into style for some reason or another.

"Welcome what can I get you tonight?" a young waitress asked as the four looked around.

"A booth for four and like some menu's please," Kitty answered as the four were lead to a booth.

They all sat down quietly and listened as the other customers whispered to each other, they had garnered some stares. Brandon watched as the waitress handed them all menus and he heard something that sounded like the nights specials.

"You can order anything you want tonight, it's on me now that I can access all that military pay," Brandon spoke thinking back to Dr. McCoy telling him that he could access his pay a few days ago.

'It took me an hour to convince the Professor to at least take back some of the money, the man truly has a good heart. I suppose in a way he sees it as reimbursing me for my services, but I don't like that. I'm no damn mercenary that works for the highest bidder. I'll only fight for those I want to protect and that I believe are worth any sacrifice I make. I did finally manage to get him to take back about half of what I owed him, but I still have so much damn money in that account. Its pretty much decided that at least for the next year or so I wont be needing a job unless something drastic occurs,' Brandon thought as he recalled a small conversation a few days ago.

"Thanks Brandon," was all he heard as everyone looked over the menus.

They all ordered mostly hamburgers with the exception of Kitty, she ordered a salad. She would have gone into a vegetarian spill, but something had stopped her. A few people were staring at them, but it was the arrival of the waitress and their food that stopped them. Brandon looked at the array of food, it had only been ten minutes since they placed their order.

"Wow that was fast," Brandon commented and then realized they weren't exactly very busy tonight.

"Yeah well we aren't very busy tonight, and will there be anything else," the waitress asked as Brandon and the others shook their heads.

They all ate the food in relative silence; they were literally being watched by four guys sitting at the counter. Brandon watched as Piotr's eyes moved quickly in that direction meaning that the four, clearly out of shape men sitting at the bar were heading their way. The next thing he knew they were heading out the door seemingly enough uninterested in fighting them.

'They were moving this way, and to think I was hoping for a day without having to fight someone. Not like I couldn't take all four of though, it wouldn't be much of a challenge to fight those four fools. Just because of what we are, what did we have to do with that, I didn't choose to be a mutant, but I am happy being one.' he thought as he continued watching the door making sure that the four guys wouldn't be coming back.

"Well it seems I won't be fighting any one tonight," Brandon commented a slight smile forming on his face.

"Yeah it would be such a shame if you didn't get into a knock down drag out everywhere you went," Amara teased as Brandon shook his head laughing at the comment.

"Uh huh what is it with boys always wanting to fight or cause an explosion for that matter," Kitty added as Brandon started to laugh at her comment.

"I fought things for a living, and I've blown up my fair share of things that is what I'm trained to do in all extensive purposes. To be honest with you though I just like destroying stuff, it makes me feel better after all the things that have happened," Brandon answered throwing in his view on the issue as he pulled out thirty dollars to pay the bill.

They laughed as Brandon walked over to the waitress and paid the bill leaving her a nice tip for her courteous service. Brandon looked down at his watch; it was 11:15, better get back to the institute before Logan tries to gut me like a fish.

"Hey Piotr we better drive ourselves on home, I don't want to end up on Logan's bad side." Brandon commented as they all got in the car.

They all nodded making sure Piotr was the one to drive. Brandon had heard all about Kitty's driving from Jubilee; rumor had it that it was so bad that some of the adults actually considered it a punishment for some offenses. It was a quick drive for everyone and Brandon didn't even bother to stare out at the window, his sights were set on Amara.

"Well did you have a nice time?" Brandon whispered to Amara netting him a big smile from the girl.

"Of course I did," she whispered back as the two stayed close as the trip came to an end.

Piotr and Kitty left quickly and the two sat there alone for a moment until the two started to kiss again. Brandon and Amara stood there kissing each other, Brandon pulled back catching his breathe and smiled at her.

"I'll see you tomorrow after I go though my laundry list of chores." Brandon stated as he pulled out the flower from her hair and handing it to Amara and watching her smile as she took the flower.

Brandon watch as Amara ran off heading towards her room with a large smile on her face. Looking over the area he started to head off to his own room for some well deserved rest.

'Well at least I didn't think about all those worries I have when I was out tonight. Everyone needs a break from whatever it is that runs through their head; I really need a vacation from this. I bet this whole date will be all over the institute by tomorrow morning. No doubt that those two are going to be telling everyone about this,' he thought as he walked into the living room as he called it. He watched as a young black haired girl that reminded him of Logan stood there looking out the window.

"It's a nice view don't you think?" Brandon asked as he carefully approached her.

She growled a little and Brandon just smiled, she's just like Logan. The growls grew louder as Brandon approached the young lady. She seemed irritated by his presence, causing her to glare at him instead of looking out the window.

"So what are your plans, you can clearly take care of yourself to some extent. It would be wise to take the opportunity to rest before the next battle," Brandon commented turning to leave.

"You are a soldier aren't you? You walk like one, you act like one for the most part, and you have the mindset of one." She replied justifying her question as Brandon shook his head.

"I was a U.S. Marine; I see you are just like Logan in some manners. You should relax no one here wants to hurt you, and if I did I'm sure it would be one hell of a fight. For the time being though you aren't my enemy and I'm not yours so that makes us friends I suppose." Brandon spoke as the girl tensed up at the mention of his name.

"I was originally trained to eliminate Weapon X, and what makes you think I wont hurt you right here and now." she barked as Brandon stepped back some.

Brandon looked at her; 'she was no more than 16 or 17 years old tops. Who would train someone so young to do such a thing? Must have been one of those damned black ops groups they are always causing trouble, if I catch this group I'll have grandfather bury them in the brig.' he thought.

"You have some skills I'll give you that kid, but you wont find me an easy person to intimidate or to scare with threats. I've seen my fair share and I'll fight you but only if it's a last resort. That's how things are done around here I guess, then again I have my own theory about you. I think you are searching for a purpose to be honest with you, but what do I know. I'm just a grunt after all," Brandon countered as he started to leave the room.

"Do yourself a favor though, you should think up a new name. You deserve something better than just a military designation that someone gave you. Later kid, don't beat yourself up, I've met your type before in a past battlefield. Oh yeah don't think about attacking anyone in their sleep this time, I heard all about your last visit here. I won't hesitate to fight any person that hurts the people here." Brandon continued as he left the room leaving her alone.

X-23 looked at him very confused; he didn't act like most of the soldiers that she had met. 'He seemed to be content being here, does that mean I could be content here to' she thought as she watched him leave.

He walked up the stairs and headed towards his room, he was getting tired and had to be up early for tomorrow.

'I feel sorry for that girl, trained to do such horrible things without even being given the choice. Maybe she can find some peace someday soon, she probably needs some. I could use some to for that matter, tonight was a good diversion. I'm still no closer to figuring out what the hell or how the hell that technology was stolen. I refuse to believe that there is a traitor here, but belief and reality seldom matches up well with each other.' Brandon thought as he entered the room grabbing a pair of shorts.

"Just because I believe everyone here is loyal, there are still plenty of other explanations. I'm going to have to do this very carefully and examine everyone here with the exception of Piotr, X-23, Noriko, and Amara." Brandon muttered to himself making plans on how to find who could have betrayed them, or at the least was an unwilling pawn in this game.

Brandon stared at the ceiling as thoughts ran through his mind; it was a hard sell even for him. Only a few weeks had passed since his arrival it would look very poorly upon him if he accused someone without proof.

'I've got to find out the truth behind all this and manage to prepare for my grandfathers visit. The preparation can wait, but the truth is something that I'm going to have to find. I can scratch out a few people from my little search but everyone else is fair game as far as I am concerned. This isn't going to be easy and I'm going to have to keep up my mental guard in order to keep Jean and the Professor out. I don t like this but I have to suspect the Professor as well, when it comes to this it is guilty before innocence. I have no room for error; I only have one shot at this without tipping off my hand to everyone if one of them happens to be a spy. While I'm at it though I'm going to search this place top to bottom for listening bugs, and hopefully that is the cause of this leak.' Brandon thought as he stared up at the ceiling of his room.

"I just need to sleep right now; I need to make sure I am ready for whatever happens tomorrow." Brandon muttered to himself falling asleep as he spoke.

Next chapter: Marine's Guide to Training part 1

Logan, Scott, and Brandon begin designing a new training program after meeting with adults. Brandon meanwhile trains his students' hard waiting for the day that his grandfather will arrive.


	11. Marine's Guide to Training part 1

**Author notes: I appreciate all of the reviews please keep on reviewing. I like all of the insight and ideas that I get from reviews. So I desire even more reviews please.**

Agent-G: I appreciate all of the advice, and when Brandon's grandfather arrives a few things will become clear. As for the comments about X-23 I appreciate that, you know how I tend to think about certain things lol.

Aaron: Appreciate your remarks, keep on reviewing the fic. I try hard to get everything down right, especially the relationship between Amara and Brandon. If you liked the last chapter the next few will be perfect for you.

Actiondude: Thanks for the help and how Kincaid learned about the institute is going to become clear very soon.

Multifan: I didn't think about timing this with Agent-G's Back to School and since both are in their own unique world, it was just a coincidence. I am heavily influence by Agent-G's work however, but I do follow things my own way. As for Brandon setting up Piotr that was a one time thing, don't expect him to try it again with anyone else.

**For those of you that don't know Reaper's fic Shadow of the Reaper was posted, if you want details on him feel free to check it out. If I get enough reviews I might expand it to a second chapter. Also I'm going on a holiday break for Thanksgiving, so I won't be available on AIM after Tuesday until I return on Sunday. Feel free to contact me between now and then though, now onto the story.**

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Brandon sat there in his bed quietly staring at the wall; his nightmares about NRI had been gradually fading away until the rescue operation that they executed. He wiped off some sweat; the nightmare had been particularly vivid while he had been sleeping. He sat there looking at his hands; he just wouldn't be sleeping tonight, too much to think about.

'So much for time healing all wounds, I keep reliving that battle at NRI. What's wrong with me, NRI wasn't my first battle, yet I'm still being haunted by what happened there. I know what I have to do so why can't I get a decent night sleep.' Brandon thought as he walked over to the sink, turning it on and then splashing some cold water on his face.

Brandon looked over at his uniform looking at the patch that was on it a torch with the words "Others will follow…Where we lead," was prominent on the uniform's right sleeve, below the patch was the X symbol that was common for anyone that was at the institute. Brandon pulled out something else it was a photo of him with Amara; apparently Kitty had taken it when the two were in the den one night. The two were smiling and laughing in the photo as Brandon placed it carefully next to the ones on his nightstand.

'Great date with Amara, but it is this visit that's coming up that has me going stir crazy, its only two days away. Not to mention I'm no closer to figuring out anything about who or what slipped the technology to Kincaid. Our own technology being used against us, granted I can cross off Scott and Jean now,' Brandon thought walking over to his uniform and putting on his modified black uniform.

"Its time to get up and get ready for training today any way," Brandon muttered to himself leaving the room and heading downstairs to the kitchen.

Most marines are creatures of habit and Brandon was no exception, he ate breakfast every day at 5 am and it was always cereal and a banana. Ms. Munroe had actually gotten use to her early morning company. Brandon took in a deep breath the smell of pancakes, sausage, and bacon permeated the air.

"Morning Ms. Munroe, how are you today?" Brandon asked grabbing his usual breakfast grub not even bothering with all of the food that Ms. Munroe had prepared for the others.

"I'm doing well, I assume you are meeting with Logan and Scott later to design a new training regiment for the students later," Ororo commented as Brandon nodded his head.

"Yeah that is on my list of things to do today, right after I get in my training and the New Mutants. With Reaper out there I need to train harder and so does everyone else for that matter, not only him but we also have those new sentinels that are being developed." Brandon spoke going over his revised roster of trainees making mental notes where everyone was at in their training.

'Well Sam, Ray, Rahne, Tabitha, Jubilee and Roberto have come along well but they are still not ready for the more advanced techniques. I have something else in mind for Jaime, he needs some muscle. Amara has been trying really hard in my class, guess it's because she likes me, she's ready for a test to make sure that she is really ready for the next level of hand to hand. I'm not teaching them how to kill, but I will teach them close quarters combat particularly if she passes my little test. Kitty, Kurt, and Rogue are also ready for the more advanced techniques, but I'll have them continue the basics today. I don't know how to teach Rogue that style without being drained. Guess that only leaves my three new recruits,' Brandon thought as he looked over the list of students

Brandon chuckled a little; it seems that if given a choice between the two instructors (Logan or Brandon) most of the students chose him. Noriko, Paige and Jean had all been listed to join future training exercises. Brandon could understand the previous two, but Jean was a question, why exactly had she decided to join his training regiment.

"Well I better get to work and earn my keep, I'll see you later Ms. Munroe," Brandon spoke as he walked outside checking over the training equipment that he had set up.

He turned his head as his students started to come out of the mansion lining up so Brandon could check and see who was there and who wasn't. They had gotten use to the way that Brandon had done things and one of the first things he always did was have them all line up so he could look over them. Brandon inspected his students quickly almost immediately noticing that someone was missing.

"Let see who we have today, Paige, Noriko, Amara, Jean, Ray, Roberto, Rahne, Jaime, Kurt, Rogue, Kitty, and Tabby. Where is Sam today?" Brandon said as he checked off his list as he called out each name.

"My older brother isn't feeling well today, he is with Dr. McCoy right now," Paige said as Brandon nodded his head in understanding.

He looked over the number of students he had, this class was growing a lot more than he expected. Making a few last minute adjustments Brandon fiddled with his whistle as he waited for everyone to stretch out before the heavy work out.

'Either they are choosing to come here, or someone intends to see how many students I can handle. Granted I need to make sure that they all stay together, all working together until we reach the hand to hand section. Then I can separate them into their individual workouts that I have planned for them.' Brandon thought as he looked over the students one last time.

Brandon surveyed the area carefully checking that their usual running path was fine. Looking over at the small forest Brandon turned back to his students convinced that it was clear to begin the training exercise.

"Ok we are going to be doing 7 miles of running today, remember to stick together. Also since I have a lot to do today there will be no danger room session as a group. After this little run, we will be doing hand to hand and then you are all free to go. I would advise you to use your free time to enjoy what little break you have left," Brandon yelled as he pulled out his whistle and started to run.

They all ran together, Brandon made sure that no one tried to run ahead. Teammates run together thinking back to his days in the corp as he maneuvered himself closer to Jean.

"No offense Jean, but I was a little surprised that you were on my list today. To be honest I thought you didn't like me after that weird look my first night, so I was kind of surprised you were on there. Mind if I ask why you have decided to join this training exercise?" Brandon asked as the two continued to run with the others.

"Back on campus I ran into a little trouble with someone who wouldn't take no for an answer. I thought a little self defense would be useful since it would look poorly if I used my abilities on individuals like that. I don't have anything against you by the way, but I think we are at your resting point, I'll explain the look later," Jean said as Brandon nodded his head in agreement, they had reached the point that he would be giving them a break.

"I understand that if Scott doesn't beat the crap out of the fool, let me know. I'm sure I can arrange a visit from one of old corp friends." Brandon said a laugh coming out of his mouth as they approached the halfway marker and blowing his whistle.

He puts his hand up showing five fingers giving them a slight break for five minutes. They had been getting into better shape since he had arrived and started his focus on the basics training program. Turning his head carefully he noticed that Rahne and Roberto seemed to be close sharing a bottle of water between the two. Brandon scanned the area making sure that everyone was there when he was interrupted by his watch beeping.

"Oorah, time to move on people, the sooner we get this done the sooner you can get back to your own lives," Brandon barked as he stood up stretching a little and then looking at his students.

"Sir, yes sir drill instructor sir," Roberto barked sarcastically as Brandon eyes narrowed at that comment.

Brandon looked at Roberto not happy about his comment, but he chose to ignore it. He blew his whistle and started to run again this time being joined by Noriko and Amara.

"Hey Brandon, what are we going over in hand to hand today," Amara asked as Brandon continued his jogging.

"Well I intend to focus on some new things today; you have had enough of the basic techniques. Some of you will be learning some advanced techniques today, while others will be on a special training program I designed just for them," Brandon answered as they approached the five mile marker.

"I'm really tired, this is hard especially with these gauntlets that control my abilities, I could blow by you all if I used my speed ability though," Noriko commented as Brandon looked at her with concern.

"This is meant to help everyone as a team Noriko, which means no abilities. Granted I understand your need to release your energy, but I should have had a word with this Forge fellow when he designed those," Brandon replied as the girl struggled to keep up.

"You mean you have never met him, but you have been here longer than I have," Noriko responded as Brandon just smiled continuing his jog.

"I've only been here about a month or so and I was looking over Alan's latest intelligence reports when Forge showed up and made those. I have a mound of reports to go over provided by him since he has left," Brandon spoke as they made their way past the final leg.

He picked up the whistle and blew it again, this time motioning for them to stop. They had made good time and he had been slowly increasing the amount they ran, but some weren't use to this type or exercise.

"Ok we are going to walk back now good job everyone. Noriko, Jaime, and Amara I have special training for you three today." Brandon bellowed as they all started to walk back, at times he still felt like he was still in the marines.

It was a quick walk back for everyone enjoying their small breather while walking back to the training grounds. Brandon looked up noticing the good weather and smiled as they finally made it to the training ground and they started their hand to hand drills.

'Eventually I'll have them spar each other, but at the moment that wouldn't be the best idea. Particularly with two certain hot heads,' Brandon thought noticing Ray and Roberto were starting to argue over something again.

"If you two have that much energy, you both can go run another five miles." Brandon barked not pleased with their arguing.

"We're good," they both said as Brandon nodded his head.

"Then get to work on your drills that you have been working on, I expect perfection because all of you with the exception of the three new recruits will be tested on this. Now I want everyone to follow this except Jean, Amara, Noriko, Paige, and Jaime." Brandon bellowed as everyone voiced their understanding.

Brandon carefully showed the others what he wanted them to do, Ray and Roberto were always trouble if you didn't give those two specific instructions. He looked at the three that he had special training for and motioned for them to follow him.

"Jaime, we are going to work on your strength today. I want you to take these buckets and fill them with potting soil then carry them to Ms. Munroe, who will be waiting for you in her garden. You are to deliver twelve loads of this soil and I will consider your training a success, understand," Brandon said as Jaime gave a mock salute and went off to carry out his assignment.

Brandon looked at Noriko and grinned, after seeing her gauntlets he figure she could use some special training. She was a small girl and the gauntlets looked like they weighed a lot for someone so small. Not to mention Brandon was less than thrilled that this was the only way that she could control her abilities.

"Noriko, I want you to lift up the weights that I have brought out here. Those gauntlets look unnaturally heavy and by doing this you'll be able to move faster when we run next time," Brandon commented as she was the last one to finish their little run, those gauntlets of her weighing her down.

Brandon watched her carefully making sure that she was ok before moving on to Amara's training. He smiled it hadn't taken him but a few minutes to come up with this training.

"No doubt due to the greatness of the teacher, you are my best student. Today I'm going to test you to make sure that you are ready for the next stage of the the training today. That is after I teach Jean and Paige a few things, so until then spot for Noriko ok," Brandon spoke with a small smile on his face.

Amara nodded and went over to Noriko making sure she could lift the weights Brandon had left for them. 'It's not like the weights are real heavy, but better safe than sorry.' Brandon thought as he showed Jean some basic self defense moves. She perfectly copied the moves, making Brandon wonder if she was reading his moves with her mind. She just laughed as Brandon just looked on.

"I'm not reading your mind, but that first night you ate with us I did catch a few of your thoughts. That's why I was looking at you I'm sorry," Jean spoke as she practiced a few punches.

"That's ok; I hope it wasn't some of my less than pleasant ones. In the future though you may want to stay out of my head, there are some bad things that no one should have to see, lots of good memories in there too though," Brandon whispered as Jean nodded.

"Is that because of the NRI attack or your time as a marine," Jean asked curious about his thoughts and the reason he didn't want anyone to see them.

"Both," was Brandon's only comment as he showed her the last few moves as he looked on seeing Paige struggle with the moves.

Brandon walked over to Paige straightening her arm as he evaluated her abilities. Paige was struggling to learn the basic moves; it wasn't a rare thing though quite a few marines actually had a hard time with these maneuvers.

"Keep trying Paige, I know you can do this. If you need help ask Jean there she has this stuff down pretty well." Brandon commented as Paige took a deep breath trying the combination punch and kick attack again.

"This is just," Paige started taking a breath before continuing, "very difficult. Did you really learn this in the marines?"

Brandon adjusted her position moving her shoulder down a little, a good hand to hand fighter always positioned them at the best vantage point. Paige grunted as she tried again this time actually getting the position right.

"Great job now you got it girl. Actually no I didn't this stuff I've adapted for my students; marines learn something called the Warrior Ethos system. It's a combination of martial arts and close quarters combat techniques, that to be honest would be useful for all of you but I have to build the basics first. Granted my grandfather made sure I knew all of it before I even started basic training, it wasn't until I got to my specialty did I learn anything new and that was a month and a half after my basic training. You keep on practicing though I have other things to do," Brandon answered as he smiled at Paige proud that the girl had finished the first part of the basics.

Brandon left her there to continue the moves that he had shown her to deal with Amara and her new training. Brandon looked at Amara carefully he had to make sure she was absolutely ready for the next stage of the training and there was only one way for that.

"Everyone is free to go with the exception of Amara. Remember to practice these when you get the chance, also be sure to enjoy the remainder of your break," Brandon spoke dismissing everyone except Amara.

Brandon motioned for her to follow him as they walked over to a new training area that had mats placed on the ground. Brandon tested the mats making sure they were down and in the correct place before turning to face Amara. Brandon looked at the dark hair girl nearly reconsidering his course of action at the sheer sight of Amara.

"Today you are going to be doing something a little different, but first I have to make sure you are ready. You are going to be sparring against me; I chose this little padded arena for this since we might get tossed hard on the ground. Your goal is to land either a multiple number of clean hits or if you can't at least one direct attack on the face area on me," Brandon spoke as he waited to see if she had any questions.

"Ok let's get started then, because I am going to win this," Amara replied as Brandon walked to the other side of the mat.

"Wouldn't bet on that princess, I'm not going to be easy to beat in this little exercise," Brandon teased as Amara seemed to be irritated by that remark.

"Talk is cheap marine, bring it on," Amara taunted trying to bait Brandon into the first attack.

Brandon watched as Amara immediately went into a defensive posture, surprising Brandon some as he watched the girl carefully assessing the weak points in her stance.

'Well you still haven't learned to minimize points of attack, but maybe you are just trying to bait me. This is a test so I suppose I will attack your strongest point, it's the only way to see how much you have learned. I'll hold back though to only things that I have taught you to even the playing field though,' Brandon thought as he went through his attack options.

Brandon ran forward moving quickly, taking the offensive since Amara seemed uninterested in launching the first attack. Brandon's first move was a combination of punches and kicks, all of which Amara dodged or blocked with ease. Brandon took a small breather watching as Amara moved away from the defensive posture and launched her own attacks.

"Sorry," Amara spoke bowing her head," but I'm going to win this," she added.

"Hey don't count me out just because you have delusions of grandeur, I'm not going to be beaten by my own student. You are going to have to do better than this if you are going to achieve a clean hit against me. By the way I'm really sorry about what I'm about to do in this little test," Brandon returned not even concern about the attacks that Amara had launched at him.

Moving quickly Brandon blocked her attack with left arm quickly attacking with his right leg attempting to sweep her feet out from under her. Amara moved faster though realizing what Brandon was trying and pushed herself back causing a few feet of separation of the two.

"What's the matter you aren't tired are you marine?" Amara taunted as Brandon merely shrugged his shoulders.

"I wouldn't count on that, marines never tire of battle or a challenge." Brandon stated as he watched Amara charge forward moving to attack him a small right fist approaching his face.

Amara watched as Brandon blocked one of her punches and grabbed her arm flinging her over his shoulder and into the matted ground. Amara winced in slight pain as Brandon held her there as she struggled to get out of the hold. Brandon turned her over pushing her into an arm bar and took a seat on her back as she struggled to get lose.

"So what will it be, are you ready to surrender now? You clearly aren't ready for next set of training," Brandon taunted as Amara stopped struggling seeming to accept her defeat.

"Not a chance, I am ready for the next stage of training," Amara barked a few tears running down her face, Brandon immediately stood up thinking that he had hurt Amara only to realize something very painful.

Brandon watched carefully as her left arm went over and smacked his face. He had focused so much on the right arm, and thinking that she had been subdued that he didn't expect this, not to mention that Brandon had been concerned when a few tears appeared. She used her emotions against him and he had bought it without fail, Brandon looked as the tears disappeared replaced by a glowing smirk.

'Not bad, she knew I didn't want to hurt her and used the tears to distract me. I was so taken aback by it; I was completely caught off guard by that kind of maneuver. This is interesting, she won fair and square. I never said anything about taking advantage of the situation or our relationship. It was a good move, boy did I really fall right into it to, guess even I still have a lot of things to learn.' Brandon thought a small smirk appearing on his face.

"I win guess that means you'll be teaching me the next level of the training. You aren't upset about losing are you?" Amara asked teasing him a little about his defeat.

"No you won fair and square, an interesting move taking advantage of our relationship. You should know that it won't help you in this next stage of the training." Brandon commented his smile still there.

He looked down at his watch; the adults were supposed to meet in an hour. Brandon looked over at Amara trying to decide if he had time to start her new training.

'Not only that but I still haven't gotten in my own training for the day. I'm busier here than I ever was in the marines; at least they had times of sheer boredom. Something is always going on here, I'm going to have to put the rest of this on hold,' Brandon thought as he continued gazing at the smiling Amara.

"You did well today Amara, it was a victory and you did score a decisive clean hit right on the face. Congratulations tomorrow we will start on the next stage of the training, for now though you go have some fun like the others. " Brandon stated as Amara ran up to him giving him a hug, a big smile on her face.

"You aren't mad are you?" Amara teased as Brandon just shrugged his shoulders not concerned about the little sparring match.

"That's ok; this was a part of your new training as well. Learning this stuff is fine, but actually being able to use it against someone is even more important. Besides I'll get even in our next match," Brandon spoke as Amara smiled; he was already planning a rematch.

'Don't want to spoil her victory by telling her that I was holding back, but she will figure it out once the next stage begins.' Brandon thought as he gazed at Amara.

"You know what you are so cute when you are all sweaty like this," Amara spoke as she turned to face him giving him a hug and a quick kiss.

"Oh thank you so much, but did I ever tell you how cute you look when you do that little pout," Brandon teased as he returned her affection with a kiss, only to stop when he heard some clapping.

They both laughed as they just stood there in the padded area, only to realize that the two had attracted a small crowd. Brandon turned seeing Jubilee, Paige, and Noriko watching the two, all three of them standing there staring at the two of them with large grins on their face.

"Just can't get a moment of privacy anywhere in this place, even worse than the corp," Brandon joked as Amara and he left the area so Brandon could be somewhat on time for his other meetings today.

"Hey I got a meeting to get to, I'll meet up with you later," Brandon whispered as she nodded and he went to join the other adults.

Brandon walked over quickly to the stairs making his way to the office that the Professor used during the day. He walked straight to the office and walked right in shutting the doors behind him. He looked around carefully noticing Scott, Jean, Logan, Ms. Munroe, Dr. McCoy, and the Professor as he leaned against the wall.

"Late as usual marine," Logan barked as Brandon stared at him for the off comment.

"Perhaps you would like to go back to training the students more. I do have my hands full with everything I have been doing lately, or maybe you would like to read all of the intel reports Alan sends here on a daily basis," Brandon shot back as he leaned up against the wall, sweat dripping from his face from his recently finished training.

The two laughed a little at that, over time Brandon had managed to learn how to coexist with Logan to some extent. It was just a matter of showing the man that Brandon was a good marine and respected what he was. Brandon gratefully took a towel from Ms. Munroe wiping off the sweat that had accumulated on his face.

"So I know we will be cutting back on training, so what is the new schedule Professor?" Brandon asked as the adults looked at a schedule that had just been displayed on the big screen.

"Take a look here my young friend," Dr. McCoy stated as the Professor brought up the daily schedule.

Brandon looked down on the schedule noticing that Ororo taught a small class here for students that needed to be caught up on academics. He looked on noticing that his first class would be at 5 and would end at 6:30. Logan and the X-Men on the other hand kept their early training schedule with another training set of training complimenting it on the weekend and in the afternoon.

"Looks like I'll be having more free time, guess that means more solo demolition sessions in the danger room," Brandon joked as everyone else looked on curious at his attempt at humor.

"Brandon could I talk to you for a moment, there is something I would like you to consider," the Professor asked as Brandon nodded, he had been a little nervous at first, watching everyone else leave.

"As you have seen you will be having more free time, have you consider continuing your education past your high school degree," he continued as Brandon just shook his head.

"Professor I have taken a few college classes, but I really don't have an interest in taking any more. Academics just aren't my thing; the only class I enjoyed was history. Besides I never liked chemistry or math, and even worse was psychology." Brandon replied his smile turning into a frown at the idea of taking more classes.

"I understand, but without the students here you may find yourself wishing for something to do, and I wanted to at least put this on the table. Is there something else that you would like to do while the student's are away in class?" Professor Xavier spoke noticing Brandon's reaction to the idea of taking more college classes.

"I appreciate the concern, but it will give me a chance to do a few things. Also I'm looking forward to at least some peace and quiet around here. Maybe with Scott, Jean, Kitty, Rogue, and Kurt studying at the college and the other New Mutants in high school I'll finally get a chance to catch up on my reading besides you might need someone around here in case something happens. The way things are going it might be a good idea for me to be around here," Brandon acknowledged as he moved towards the door.

"Yes I believe we both agree on that point, I do miss the quiet peace that school brings. Please let me know if you think of anything that you would like to do while the others are at school, you aren't here to guard the institute after all. After school starts I would like to sit down with you and have a discussion about a few things," Professor Xavier said with a small smile missing the quiet times that the school season brought.

"I appreciate the concern Professor but I'm sure that I can make myself useful. Whenever you would like to talk just let me know, I'll be more than happy to stop by," Brandon replied as he started to leave the office the Professor occupied.

Brandon shook his head as he left the office and headed towards Piotr's room. He knocked on the door and laughed as Piotr opened the door having some lipstick on his face. Brandon started laughing as soon as he entered Piotr's room. He looked on in awe; Piotr was an artist and a good one at that, maybe the best that he had ever seen.

"Hey Piotr you might to go look in the mirror, you have something on your face," Brandon commented as Piotr quickly removed the lipstick with a towel.

"Thank you, comrade," Piotr replied as he made sure there was no other lipstick on his face.

"Man Piotr you are one great artist, I wish I had skills like that. I do know good art when I see it though, especially since I've been to a lot of those fancy art displays in Washington. My grandfather was always big on cultural experiences," Brandon added as he admired Piotr's art work.

"It is nothing comrade, do you really think they are good?" he asked as Brandon just nodded his head.

"Are you kidding they have stuff on display in the national museum in Washington that is nowhere near your talent. There are military artist that aren't any where near your talents." Brandon commented as Piotr looked at his reaction.

Brandon took a seat in the chair and watched as Piotr smiled; the two were like family almost. Brandon noticed that Piotr had apparently been painting here for a while, there were so many paintings.

"You have so many paintings here; wow is that one of the Professor?" Brandon asked as he looked at an oil painting of the man.

"Da, I intend to paint all of my friends and family that I have here. It is a long process however and I have only finished three and part of a fourth including the Professors' painting," Piotr commented as Brandon looked closer at his paintings.

Piotr meanwhile showed him three other paintings and Brandon laughed the first one was of Kitty sitting in a chair. The second was of the man he assumed was Gambit, based upon the fact he was holding some playing cards. Brandon had heard he liked cards of any sorts and was famous for cheating quite a few people in poker. Brandon looked around for the third and final complete painting only to see more landscapes.

"Comrade the last one isn't quite ready yet, but when it is I promise to show it to you," Piotr said with a smile as Brandon just scratched his head curious about the final painting.

Brandon merely nodded and laughed, whenever Piotr wanted to show him that was fine with him. Whatever it was Brandon could bet that it would be just as good as any of the other paintings that he had done.

"Hey Piotr tell me something, what happened to Kitty's last boyfriend. I heard a lot about him; some guy named Lance, but I haven't heard how their relationship ended," Brandon asked trying to clarify the information that he had been given.

"Well comrade you know most of what the rest of us know, Lance disappeared shortly after the Apocalypse incident and Kitty waited a long time hoping he would return. He never did, and none of the Brotherhood members have been seen since. Pietro is with his father Magneto, but no one knows where the others went off to," Piotr answered as Brandon bowed his head slightly.

"I see, didn't mean to pry my friend. Just didn't know what to make of the scuttlebutt that flies around this place. I should really stop listening to all of the rumors that fly around here, bad habit from the marines. At times the only entertaining thing we had was scuttlebutt," Brandon replied not meaning to go into such a delicate matter.

"That is okay comrade; I understand you are just trying to figure things out. It can be difficult playing catch up around here since there are so many people living here now." Piotr responded as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"Hey buddy, I think I'll catch up to you later. I have someone else I need to talk with, the usual game of chess later," Brandon spoke as Piotr nodded his agreement.

"Of course comrade, I enjoy our quiet game of chess. Katya though wants me to go to the mall with her, but I'm sure it can wait until after our game." Piotr replied as Brandon began to leave the room.

The two friends had been playing chess together for the past week using it as a way to get to known each other. Brandon had managed to win 6 of the 7 games, and the two had enjoyed spending their time doing something other than fighting this or that. He walked quickly heading for the library; X-23 had been staying there a lot since the students in general avoided reading books. She hadn't made her decision yet, but at the moment she was Logan's guest.

"Well kid I see you have made yourself a little home here. You picked a good place not many people come in here, it's a school break not many would want to spend it reading books," Brandon commented as he entered the library earning a sharp gaze from X-23.

Brandon went over to one of the shelves and picked up a book. He carried the book with him as he took a seat in one of the chairs; he had always been interested in the battle tactics of Napoleon as he skimmed the first two pages of the book.

"Why aren't you scared of me like the others here with the exception of Weapon X?" She asked as Brandon opened his book slightly.

"I understand that a long time ago you fought your way in here, people tend to take combat a little personal. To be honest you don't scare me very much, I have fought a lot worse, seen some things I wish I haven't in the name of duty," Brandon answered not even flinching as she got up and moved closer to him.

Brandon stood up and moved for the door leaving the book in the library. He then turned around and moved to say something else to her concerned about her isolationist tendencies.

"I don't know what your plans are, but the world isn't as nice a place as it should be. You might be able to find at least some peace here, if that is what you are after. Whatever your goal is I do hope you find it," Brandon said as he started to leave the room deciding that the conversation wasn't heading the way it should.

"This place is just so confusing; the only thing I want is my freedom. I just don't understand this place yet, how can you be like this with so many enemies out there." X-23 blurted out as Brandon stopped turning to face her.

"They aren't here right now; for the time being there aren't any enemies at the gate. I'll train hard to make sure I'm ready for them all whether it is Reaper, Kincaid, Magneto, or whoever else decides to show up here to attack the institute. All training and preparing for battle though isn't a way to lead a life. I'll take my peace where I can get it, knowing my luck battle will never be to far away." Brandon commented as he left a confused X-23 behind in the library noticing Rahne standing there watching the area carefully.

"You should be more careful with X-23, Odin," Rahne spoke her Scottish accent being displayed as Brandon looked at the red haired young lady.

"Perhaps but I don't see what you all do in her, you see someone that has attacked you in the past. I guess I would to if she had attacked me, but I don't see that in her. I just see a lost girl that is trying to find her way, the group that made her screwed her life royalty and I've got no doubt that someone in the military was involved." Brandon replied as the Scottish girl growled at the door.

"I," Rahne started as Brandon focused carefully on her, "just want to make sure she doesn't attack any one this time. I don't like people hurting my friends,"

'Fiercely loyal and protective of her friends, I can see why she was missed around here. Now that I can finally talk to her maybe I can find out why she returned. This is the first time she has ever said anything to me that is actually meaningful,' Brandon thought curious about Rahne.

"I understand that, if you don't mind I would like to ask you a question. Why did you return to the institute after what happened?" Brandon asked curious about Rahne response.

"Ay finally convinced ma to let me come back, it took a while though. It was really boring in Scotland without the others around." Rahne spoke as Brandon focused on the door.

"Well if you would excuse me, I have other duties to attend to around here. I look forward to talking with you more," Brandon politely said as Rahne continued to stare at the door leading to X-23.

Brandon walked quickly to the other side of the institute and towards one of the studies that they would be meeting to discuss the new training program. Nearly running Brandon jogged through the halls attempting to be on time for a meeting.

'I'm going to be late again, why do I always stop and chat with everyone,' he thought as he went to the arranged meeting place. Brandon entered the study and nodded as Logan shut the door and the three activated a holographic map.

"Alright you two lets get to work, and your late again as usual marine," Logan bellowed as the three started to maneuver various pieces into place.

Brandon sighed as the three looked over their completed work. It took ideas from all three of them, and they had finally made what Brandon had dubbed the Dark Mile. Traps to test their abilities placed very carefully by Scott. A large obstacle course that Brandon had thought of since he went through it when he was a marine and last dodging, attacking, or blasting sentry droids that Logan had come up with it.

"I think this is the most devious thing that has ever been designed, it incorporates all of our experiences. The Dark Mile is a fitting name for it," Scott commented as the other two nodded in agreement.

Logan had to admit that between the three they had created a monster of a training exercise that could be deployed outside or in the danger room. Granted the new danger room programs would have to be created by Hank and there was the new difficulty level Brandon had suggested.

"Well you two that will be enough for today, it seem we have quite a plan drawn up," Logan growled pleased with the results that he was seeing.

"Yeah well all I ask is you consider a new difficultly level for the danger room. I'm getting tired of the same old routine and the Reaper program is not what it should be. It just lacks a certain edge, maybe adding something a bit more lethal would liven things up, the safety measures currently prevent anything too life threatening," Brandon commented as he thought about the training he usually underwent in the room.

"Wouldn't hold your breath for that marine, Chuck doesn't train the students to eliminate enemies. The X-Men are more like protectors, the idea is protect the world from those that would take advantage of their gifts like Magneto or threatens it like Trask," Logan growled as Brandon shook his head in disagreement.

"That's all well and good but not everyone is like the Professor Xavier. I respect his ideology, but I don't see some people letting it go by just injuring or capturing people. Reaper wants only one thing, and I intend to kill him before he kills us. There is no room for ideology with Reaper, just kill or be killed." Brandon replied not phased by the comments or what he was saying.

Brandon turned as he left the room; the details would be best left to these two. He still had one last thing to do on his list of things to his own personal training. He was supposed to have done it first, but now it had slipped to last.

"Do you think he is serious about what he said about Reaper?" Scott asked concerned about Brandon's attitude regarding the man.

"Well," Logan started, "marines don't make idle threats, and it would be a shock if he didn't try to kill the man. If he does just stay out of his and try to make sure he doesn't get himself killed."

"The Professor doesn't…" Scott started as Logan cut him off.

"It's pointless to go there, some aspects of Chuck's ideals just wont work with the marine or myself for that matter. Chuck believes in the best in everyone, where the marine and I know first hand that isn't always the case. That doesn't mean we don't believe in it, just have a different way of seeing things," Logan growled as Scott finally relented in the conversation.

'I'll just ask Brandon about it later, I hope that I can count on him if something does happen. What if he goes berserk in a battle, will he still be willing to listen to us or will he just follow the training he has received? I need to know,' Scott thought as Logan left the room, leaving Scott alone with the design for a new training program.

Brandon walked over to the elevator waving to Jaime and Ray as he walked past them in the hallway. Pushing a few buttons Brandon waited patiently for the elevator to arrive not realizing that Jaime had used his duplicates to get the others.

"Go quickly Jaime while he is distracted, tell everyone that is in Brandon's class and make sure that people who aren't in the class don't catch you." Ray stated as Jaime ran down the hall way to get the others.

Brandon turned his head quickly thinking he had heard someone in the hallway but he turned back when the elevator doors opened for him. Brandon scanned the room carefully noticing only a few ornate decorations like a vase or a few chairs; no one was there before the elevator doors shut. He didn't have time to investigate such an impulse at the moment.

"Time to get in some real exercise, not any of this weak stuff I've been doing today. Time to see what I can really do combining my marine training and my abilities," Brandon muttered to himself as the elevator started to make its descent.

Marine's Guide to Training part 2

Brandon displays his true abilities in the danger room drawing a crowd of students wanting to see what he can really do. In the meantime Brandon spends time with Amara trying to relax in his new home.


	12. Marine's Guide to Training part 2

**AN: Well I don't like this new review system and I have complained but intend to honor the rules until they are changed back hopefully. Please review my latest chapter in this on going work. I want more reviews, so here is the new chapter. **

'I need the hardest training possible in order to be victorious against the enemies that are waiting for me. There is no room for failure; victory is the only option that I have left.' Brandon thought as he stepped out of the elevator and walked quickly towards the control room.

Brandon pressed a few buttons bringing up menus and options for his training program. It was easy to guess that he would go for one that had been custom made for him by Dr. McCoy. Brandon adjusted the difficulty pushing it all the way up to level 9 on the X-Men difficulty.

'If I'm not careful in this little exercise my ass is going to be in the infirmary for a month. There is no choice though, training on the weaker settings would be meaning less and there has to be that fear of injury so I'll push myself to new limits. That's the way things are done in the corp,' Brandon thought as he entered the final adjustments ignoring a warning screen that had appeared on the computer screen.

It only took a few minutes for him to enter the room waiting for the program to begin. Brandon watched carefully as a jungle appeared with his usual set of droids and traps, with one difference up on the mountain a simulated Reaper would be waiting for him. Brandon looked around if he didn't know any better he would say that he was in a jungle it simulated the humidity, exotic wildlife, and the exotic trees of the jungle. Taking in the view he noticed that the majority was a flat plain for a jungle forest on the right and an ancient temple of some sort of the left. He breathed in and then made his move beginning the training exercise.

"Glad to see some things don't change lots of droids followed by some traps and my final goal. Reaper today is the day I learn how to defeat you," he spoke raising a barrier to absorb the laser fire from the droids.

Brandon stood there concentrating his power in his right hand releasing a powerful blast that destroyed all of the droids in front of him. He made his way through some traps not even phased by them. He looked on as more droids appeared and he grinned this would be fun as he started to blast them. Moving quickly he blasted his way through the droids not even noticing a crowd of people that had been gathering in the danger room.

"Be quiet Jaime, do you want us to get busted by Logan or Dr. McCoy," Bobby spoke as the students filed into the control room.

Everyone was there except Scott, Jean and the other older adults, everyone else gathered in the control room watching Brandon move through the area. One of the biggest questions at the institute was how strong Brandon and his abilities were. Besides his usual training with the New Mutants and those that were in his class, he didn't train with others. They watched as more droids were sent out; Brandon didn't even appear fazed by the approaching droids.

"Hey Ray check the difficultly level?" Tabby asked as they all watched Brandon dodge some pit fall traps running pass them or in some cases floating over them.

"No way, it is set at level 9 of the X-Men level, that can't be right. Not even the X-Men train on that level unless Wolverine and Storm are with them." Ray replied as he doubled checked the difficultly level.

"Wow he is really strong, if he trains on that level all alone." Jaime commented as a wave of energy destroyed the last of the droids.

The others nodded as Brandon made his way through the last traps and Reaper came into view. Brandon looked up seeing Reaper diving down at him and placed a barrier to block his attack. Sparks flew as the two powers collided, and the others watched as Brandon moved back a little. Brandon removed the barrier sending out a wave of energy towards Reaper.

'This is the whole goal of this exercise, can I beat you one on one. I can't afford having the others fight you because the only things you see are targets.' Brandon thought as he focused on the simulation of Reaper floating near the top of the simulated sky.

"Hey anyone know who that guy is? I don't recognize him from any of our missions," Jubilee asked as they all looked at the guy he was facing.

"No I've never seen him before, he looks really strong though," Rahne commented as her teacher went all out with energy blasts.

Brandon stood there waiting for Reaper to come in close and nailed him with an energy blast. He watched as Reaper pulled out his scythe and Brandon ran forward as he fired two blasts sending the scythe flying. The scythe was sent flying eventually landing near the temple. Brandon grunted as he started to focus his power, trying a new trick that he had been working on.

"Could it be," Amara started only to stop once she realized who it was he was fighting. She couldn't believe it, this was the person that attacked NRI and who Brandon had a grudge against from what had happened there.

Brandon watched as Reaper flew up into the air and decided now was the best time to try his new technique. He had been training hard, and he needed to make sure that it could work. This new technique could be the key to victory over Reaper and his master.

"Let's see you deal with this," Brandon yelled as he flung energy blast everywhere.

The blasts then stopped in mid air all of them hovering in place as Brandon grunted the strain of holding them in place was incredible. 'I can't believe how much I have to focus in order to do this' he thought as he released the attack all at once. He watched as every blast went straight at Reaper hitting him repeatedly. Brandon fell down on the simulated ground as the energy hit its target.

'Time to go; if I stay in this spot any longer I'm dead. The advantage is mine in the jungle, I know how to fight here and you don't,' Brandon thought heading into the simulated jungle for cover.

"Whoa now did you see that, that was incredible," Sam commented his sister Paige nodding her head.

"When could he do that, I've never seen him do that before," Paige asked as they all shook their head, the room was literally shaking due to the amount of energy Brandon had used in the attack. They all watched him on the screen as he disappeared into the jungle that had been simulated.

Brandon peeked out carefully from behind his cover assessing the damage only to be surprised that he had only managed to moderately damage Reaper. Brandon shook his head, everything he had just unleashed and barely a scratch.

'How in the hell am I suppose to beat you, it seems no matter what I do there isn't a move that I've used so far that has damaged you,' he thought breaking his cover and launching a quick assault of energy attacks on Reaper.

Reaper charged through the attacks blocking or knocking away the energy blasts that Brandon sent at him. Reaper flew up and then began to go into an aerial dive bomb heading straight for Brandon.

"Hold still, damn it so I can kill you," Brandon yelled dodging out of the way and retaliating with a blast of energy at Reaper.

The students watched as the danger room lit up with light from Brandon's attacks and Reaper's new strategy. Reaper ripped out a tree attempting to use it as a giant bat against Brandon. Brandon ducked quickly as the tree went over his head using an energy blast to blow the tree into small pieces.

"No way, look at that guy how did he manage to survive all of that?" Tabby spoke as Amara stared watching as Brandon moved out of attack range.

"I don't know I could feel a lot of power being used in that last major attack. It would make sense if this had ended," Noriko commented as the others continued to watch.

"Hey Bobby turn on the sound so we can hear what he is saying," Ray barked interested in seeing how strong Brandon was and what he was saying since his mouth was moving.

Bobby flipped the switch allowing them all to hear what was being said by Brandon. He was clearly irritated about this simulation, and how it had not ended yet. Brandon looked around the area noticing that part of the jungle had started to burn and the damage the two had caused.

"Damn you Reaper, I will figure out how to beat you. I'm going to kill you, nothing will stop me from killing you." Brandon yelled taking the simulation very seriously, almost as if it was real to him.

Smoke started to billow through the simulated area as Brandon charged up this time focusing all of his remaining energy into one last attack. It was going to be big, real big was his only thought as he started to glow energy crackling in the air. The simulated Reaper had stopped in the air avoiding the sparks of lightning Brandon had started to create.

'No more playing around its time for the attack I should have used at NRI. If all of my friends weren't around I would have to, this is the ultimate attack for me. I don't have anything stronger than this, if this doesn't work its time for a new battle strategy. This has to work it's the only thing I have left to try short of nuclear bombs,' Brandon thought as he continued to focus sending his energy into the atmosphere of the danger room, he started to float upwards naturally heading to the exact middle of the danger room.

"Mein Gott how powerful is he?" Kurt asked as they all watched the energy build up in the room.

"The danger room is barely able to contain it all, talk about going all out," Bobby spoke as Brandon continued to build up energy.

Everyone watched speechless at what they were seeing, Brandon just floated there right in the middle of the sparks. The sparks swirled around as Reaper attempted to dodge the attack only to find that the entire area had been covered by the attack. Brandon focused even more intently as the energy lightning built up causing flashes of bright light to appear.

"What in the world is he doing Amara?" Tabby asked as they looked at the screen showing the attack.

Amara didn't answer her eyes glued to the screen as the massive energy attack began. It was a very quick attack for something that had been very elaborate and fancy in the first part.

'End game, victory is mine.' Brandon thought releasing the energy focusing on the area that Reaper had decided to occupy.

They watched as he released the wave causing it to strike right where Reaper was causing massive damage on the simulated Reaper and the danger room. Brandon stood there in the middle floating in the room and descending slightly as he landed and dropped down on his hand and knees. Looking up carefully he observed the damage, parts of the danger room had melted and had scorch marks all over the walls. Brandon looked over at the droid that had assumed Reaper's form noticing its severe damage.

'Damn it all to hell, the droid gave way before I could win. Another loss for my column I don't give a rat's ass about these droids, I need to know if I can beat Reaper one on one. Guess I'll have to wait until the rematch to find out. Damn this sucks,' Brandon thought his mind swirling with anger over what he considered a failure.

"It worked, but it was so much power, it damaged everything. It wouldn't be practical in a group but alone it might destroy him, that's a big might though. I wish the damn droid could have held up longer, I guess that attack shorted the damn thing out," Brandon spoke as the simulation ended and he looked at the severely damaged danger room.

The others looked at Brandon; Amara ran out of the room and headed straight for him concerned about his health. Brandon remained on his hands and knees breathing heavily tired from the training that he had just done.

'Well at least these repair droids will fix everything; damn I can't believe I just did that. Look at this place, there is no way I can use that attack with people around. Last ditch effort though it might kill that bastard Reaper,' Brandon thought as he looked around the danger room looking closely at the scorch marks and the melted metal in the danger room.

"Amara wait don't…" Jubilee called as everyone thought about what would happen if Brandon wasn't very understanding.

"I could feel his power in here, is that how strong he becomes going all out. No wonder he trains alone," Ray commented as the others watched Amara enter the room.

"I could feel it as well; I've never felt that much power before. I knew he trained hard but not that hard," Noriko commented as the others threw in their comments on the display.

Brandon looked over watching as the doors opened and Amara entered the room. Brandon looked up as Amara ran over to him noticing the tired look on his face.

"What are you doing here?" Brandon asked as she offered a hand to help him up.

"We were watching your training, you certainly didn't hold back did you? What were you thinking?" Amara asked as Brandon carefully grabbed her hand struggling to stand without leaning on her.

"I was training; the goal is to push myself to the furthest extents and testing a few new techniques. I don't think too much in battle, my only objective was to defeat him, it got my undivided attention. If I didn't give my undivided attention I would be in the infirmary," Brandon replied as she let him go letting him drop onto the floor.

Amara slapped him on the face as Brandon stood there dumbfounded by what had just happened. Brandon could feel his face stinging from the smack that Amara had just given him.

'What the hell did I do to deserve that, I was only training. She must be ticked about something, just great you just had to something to tick her off,' Brandon thought to himself his usual smirk being replaced with a mixture of pain and exhaustion.

"You big fool, you could have gotten yourself hurt. What am I suppose to do then, wait for you to heal in the infirmary?" Amara questioned as a tear fell down her face.

"I'm sorry Amara; I just have to push myself this hard. I have to make sure I'm ready next time, next time he goes and not my friends," Brandon spoke as he lifted up his head so he could look into her eyes.

"Ok I forgive you this time but don't you ever do something like this again." Amara barked as Brandon gave a mock salute understanding the reason she had for saying that.

"I understand ma'am no more solo training without someone watching over me. Besides who am I to argue with a princess, I'm just a marine after all," Brandon teased as he nodded his head agreeing to her terms.

"You know one of these days you are going to pay for those royalty remarks," Amara shot back as Brandon just laughed at that.

He watched as she started to smile and helped him walk out of the danger room. The fact was that he normally didn't train this hard; he had slowly been working his way up in the training programs. It felt good to have worked out in such a high level; it wasn't every day that you could push yourself to your absolute limits and still walk away. He looked on as a large group of students waited for him.

'It seems I had a large group of people spying on me, oh well its not like it's some big secret. I just would have liked my little combat test and program to remain hidden. Just cant train on their programs, I find those opponents a little less lethal. The people that they have faced feel more like comic book characters than enemies,' Brandon thought as he remembers the training that they went through only to be disturbed from his thoughts by the students that had gathered there.

"Wow that was incredible Odin," Paige stated as Sam and the others nodded in agreement.

"Thanks, I should be able to walk now. I just pushed myself a little further than I actually expected." Brandon spoke as he finally managed to stand up on his own again.

Brandon stood up via his own strength and walked through the students as they slapped him on the back. They had never seen someone this strong that was on there side, it was an incredible sight granted he looked exhausted.

"Hey Brandon, how exactly did you get so strong, what is your secret exactly?" Noriko asked as the others voiced their agreement.

"The secret is I have been training very hard, pushing myself to the full extent of my abilities. I push myself hard so I can beat the guy that you just saw; it hasn't been easy as you can no doubt tell. It also helps that in the marines we only believe in the harshest variety of training. Besides I don't even know the full extent of my abilities, I've never used them like I have in the danger room before," Brandon answered as the students groaned at his response.

Brandon shook his head smiling as the students wanted another answer. It was just that they wanted something without the hard work, just like most people.

"You mean you do all of that just to beat that one guy, why go through all of that hassle?" Bobby asked as Brandon glared at him.

"My reasons don't matter as far as you all are concerned, he is my problem not yours. Just know that the reasons that I have for fighting this guy are very important to me. There is one last thing, none of you are to ever engage that man without the permission of an adult," Brandon stated coldly his irritation starting to build with the questions about Reaper.

The students looked at him confused; they wouldn't have wanted to fight him anyway. Why was Brandon telling them not to fight this guy without the permission of an adult? The only other time that had happened had been with Apocalypse and Magneto and his Acolytes. Nearly everyone there could tell that Brandon was starting to become irritated with them.

"If you don't mind me asking why shouldn't we fight him? I know the guy is powerful, but is he really as powerful as the simulation you were fighting against," Ray asked as the others looked on curious as Brandon shook his head.

"Hey I'm hungry using all that energy means its time for some grub," Brandon said attempting to change the subject not wanting to continue this discussion any longer but even Amara stopped him wanting to know the answer to Ray's question.

"Tell us why, I know you have a good reason," Amara questioned as Brandon bowed his head down.

Brandon looked at them, he didn't want to tell them this but it was bound to get out sooner than later. It was just that he would have preferred later to this moment in time.

"I'm not sure how much you know about what happened at NRI but that man he killed a lot of good marines, friends of mine. They didn't deserve the fate that they received from that man, and he is even stronger than the simulation. I also doubt my last attack would have done that much damage against him," Brandon answered walking towards the elevator as the students bowed their heads down.

'I got to get out of here, before I say something I regret. I shouldn't have even told them that, what the hell was I thinking about when I answered that question. I got to get out of here right now.' Brandon thought as he sped up his pace moving even quicker towards the elevator.

The students hadn't meant to pry their, they knew people had been hurt at NRI. It was just that Brandon had never talked about it until today. Amara ran after him barely getting into the elevator before the doors closed. She looked at him his face was completely blank; it had no emotion on it whatsoever.

"I'm sorry Brandon, none of us meant to pry..." Amara started as a few tears started to roll down Brandon's face.

"I just, I just…" Brandon stammered as he started to cry, this was the first time that he actually managed to confront his issues at NRI.

Tears dropped to the floor of the elevator as Amara took a few steps holding Brandon as tears continued to fall onto the floor of the elevator. She held him carefully as he fell onto his knees, the emotion of events finally catching up to him.

"Its ok just let it all out," Amara cooed as Brandon let go of his emotions and she pressed the button to stop the elevator.

"It was so horrible, and I keep reliving that night every time that my eyes close to go to sleep, every moment of every second I relive it in absolute detail. I failed them, they needed me and I failed when it counted the most." Brandon stammered as tears continued to roll down his face.

She just stood there holding him as he sobbed thinking of all the bad memories that had been caused by that night. All the people who lost loved ones, it was all just building up in Brandon. The fact was he had ignored it all with the exception of his anger at Reaper.

"You tried your best when he showed up and that is what counts," Amara said as Brandon stopped crying.

"I tried, but not to my fullest extent of my abilities. If I could have controlled who the energy hurts, I could have gone all out without worrying that I would add to the casualties," Brandon replied as the girl hugged him tighter.

"What ifs don't matter, it could have been a disaster if you went all out. Look at what you did to the danger room; you could have done more harm than good. You did your best trying to fight without hurting your friends," Amara countered as his tears finally started to stop dripping onto the ground.

Brandon had to admit Amara was right on this one, his tears stopped as Amara continued to hug him. She held him close as the tears finally stopped and he wiped away the last one from his face.

'Let this go, it has been long enough you can put this memory to rest some. I won't forget what Reaper and his master has done but I can't let it affect my life. I got to move on at some point, but I will avenge all of my brothers that fell at NRI,' he thought as he finally pulled away some from Amara.

"Thank you Amara, I really appreciate you trying to comfort me. I don't know what I would do about this without you helping me," Brandon spoke his smile starting to return.

"The feeling is mutual," Amara answered as the two started to kiss as the elevator started back up.

The two watched as the elevator opened and walked out heading for a quick walk outside. Brandon smiled as they walked, the sun was out today and Brandon always felt good when the sun was out. Brandon stopped after walking a few feet taking in the sun and smiling as he started to feel stronger. He looked around carefully noticing Ms. Munroe's garden making a mental note to avoid walking near that. Brandon walked over to the pool taking a seat on one of the many chairs there.

"I think I'm going to take a small nap, I'm a little tired from what happened. You should go have fun with the others," Brandon commented as he leaned his head back and closed his eyes.

"Are you sure? I would be fine staying here with you," Amara countered as Brandon eyes opened some.

"Get going, I need to take a rest, I may be a marine but even I am human. Just come get me in an hour or two okay," Brandon answered closing his eyes as he started to fall asleep.

Amara gave him a small kiss on his cheek as he seemed to be completely out of it. She hugged him and walked off heading to talk with her other friends. For the first time Brandon was sleeping without having nightmares about his battle at NRI.

"Hey Mara is Brandon okay, he didn't look so good when he left," Tabby yelled running over to her best friend noticing that Amara was a little distracted.

"Uh well," Amara started only to think about how hard that was on Brandon, "he'll be fine, he's just tired."

"He's tired but it's still the middle of the afternoon its time to party girl," Tabby replied her mostly carefree attitude showing through at this conversation.

"Just tell everyone to let him sleep some, he's really tired," Amara said a little overwhelmed about all of the emotion that Brandon had shown.

"Sure Mara, I'll tell the others," Tabby replied deciding to leave Amara alone since she seemed to be a little irritated.

'He was so sad about what happened there, I feel so sorry for him. I wish it never happened to him, but if it didn't he never would have come here, I know it's sad but I'm glad he is here.' Amara thought as she walked through the institute heading towards her room.

Amara stopped for a moment hearing Scott and Jean talking to each other about what they had heard from Jaime. Amara turned the corner quickly as Jean and Scott both looked as her cautiously.

"Hey Amara," Scott started his voice full of excitement, "was what Jaime said about the danger room exercise true. Did Brandon really do that to the danger room?"

"Yeah he did but he is really tired, you can ask him about it later. He just needs some rest right now," Amara answered as Scott seemed to become a little disappointed.

"Is something wrong Amara? If you need to talk to someone I would be happy to listen," Jean commented noticing that Amara was a bit more distracted than she normally was when Brandon was the topic of conversation.

"It's private, between me and Brandon. I don't want to talk about this with anyone else; I don't think I have a right to. Sorry if you would excuse me, I think I am going to go back outside." Amara answered turning around and heading back outside.

Amara walked quickly through the hallways heading past the Professor and Dr. McCoy as she exited the mansion. She quickly took a seat next to her sleeping boyfriend, who seemed to be at peace for the moment.

"I won't tell anyone about what happened between us in the elevator, please rest right now. None of us knew how hard you were pushing yourself," Amara whispered as she took a seat next to Brandon as he slept, both were being watched by the Professor and Dr. McCoy.

The two sat there on the back patio which overlooked the pool, and the two had remained unnoticed by Brandon and Amara. Professor Xavier took a sip of tea as he and Dr. McCoy looked at the two sitting side by side. The sun was out and it was a bright and beautiful summer day, and the two watched as Brandon seemed to be asleep with Amara watching him carefully.

"Our young friend seems to be much more at rest today; do you think he has managed to overcome some of his personal demons?" Dr. McCoy spoke taking in some of the nice clean air since he spent most of his time in his lab.

"I believe so; he has been avoiding the issue since his arrival. I was hoping that he would eventually come to me, but I was unsure that he would even come. His emotions and thoughts are very guarded it took a lot for him to admit such a thing to her." Professor Xavier stated as the two watched the young couple from a distant.

"Yes, I am curious as to why he feels so comfortable with her," Dr. McCoy replied as the Professor looked on at the two Brandon was beginning to wake up.

"Well my friend, I believe they both see something in each other that before had never happened to each other. Amara has always felt lonely here, and Brandon while surrounded by marines also felt alone. He couldn't share parts of his life with people he considered his friends; the fact is the two of them are exactly what each other needs. That is the impression I receive from the two of them, however that is not the only problem that is bothering Brandon," Professor Xavier commented as Dr. McCoy looked at his friend.

"What do you mean Charles?" Hank asked concerned about how something else that could disturb Brandon.

"I barely picked it up from his thoughts, but when he is ready he will tell us about the other things that is bothering him. We can't force him to come to us or he will withdraw from us," Professor Xavier answered as Brandon finally seemed to wake up after having a nice nap.

'I understand your reasoning from keeping this from us, I was a little disturbed at first but you only have what is for the best in your heart. You have a hard time asking for help, but your heart is in the right place. I wonder if you will ever stop acting like a marine,' Professor Xavier thought leaning forward to rest his head on his hands.

Dr. McCoy looked up from his cup, taking in the sights before noticing his friend seemed to be lost in thoughts, "A penny for your thoughts my friend."

"Hmm, oh," Professor Xavier started finally snapping out of his trance, "I was thinking it may be time to have a more in depth talk with our new instructor. I am concerned about a few of his behaviors or mannerism, I need to sit down and have a talk with him after his meeting with his grandfather. That meeting has Brandon very nervous and anxious."

Both men turned noticing that Amara had stood up and was gently nudging Brandon to wake up. A gentle nudge or two later Brandon finally started to stir from his peaceful nap.

Brandon's eyes fluttered open as he stood up a little surprise that Amara was right next to him gently nudging him to wake up. Stretching his arms a little Brandon swung his feet around and stood up feeling much better after his nap. Brandon walked over to the pool and looked down into water seeing his reflection.

"How was your nap? Do you feel better now," Amara asked as Brandon started to smile at his girlfriend.

"I feel much better now, thanks for waking me up from my little nap," Brandon answered as Amara started to grin at that remark.

"Good I'm glad you are feeling better. Can I ask you something about your abilities?" Amara stated as Brandon looked at her curious about the comment.

Brandon looked back down at the pool and moved a strand of his hair back. His black hair had grown longer since his arrival; it was now more curly and was brushed back to keep stray hair out of his way. He looked over at Amara and merely grinned at her.

"You never have to ask that question, if there is ever something you want to know about me just ask okay. Unless it's a classified military operation I will always answer any question you ask me," Brandon answered as looked directly into Amara's eyes.

"Could you tell me about how your abilities first manifested?" Amara asked as the two walked over to the pool.

Brandon stopped for a moment, thinking how he should respond to such a question. The fact was his powers had been active for four years now, four very long years of training under his grandfather and then training here.

"Well my powers first activated when I went under some heavy emotional stress, I blasted an entire room out of existence, and the kitchen was there one moment a smoldering pile of debris the next. You should have seen my grandfather's reaction when they first activated and he saw the results. He looked like he had seen a ghost, but he never once insulted me. He said I was unique and meant to do great things," Brandon spoke recalling one of the fondest memories he had.

"You really destroyed an entire room off of your own house that is so weird. What did you do after that?" Amara said giggling about Brandon's first use of his powers.

"Well every day after class I would train them on the old tank range that they had set up. He always said no one would miss a couple of old tanks and that is how I trained for three years. It took a lot of time but I learned how to create my energy blasts and barriers, even do that little floating in mid air trick. I hate doing the floating thing though, I never liked heights much. My grandfather thought that it might be possible for me to fly if I ever overcame my dislike of heights," Brandon continued as he remembered all the good days of training he had.

"That's why you have so much control over your abilities; I was curious how you developed that much control over your abilities. Why don't you like heights?" Amara asked as Brandon laughed a little.

Brandon bowed his head slightly thinking about the issue that he had with heights. It didn't affect him on planes, but it did we he looked down from high altitudes.

"I guess I could try it again, the last time I tried to fly I sort of did a fifteen foot high freefall, I should be glad I landed in the training lake for recruits. To be honest it is difficult learning to fly when you are trying to hide in a large group of marines. What about you, I heard something about you being able to quell volcanoes?" Brandon teased her a little curious about a cruise trip, he had heard about the trip from one of the many rumors that floated around the institute.

"Yeah, that is easy with my abilities, but it does have it downside. The reason I always go to sleep in the Blackbird or Velocity is because traveling by sea or air still makes me a little queasy. It has gotten better over the years though and it hasn't been as much of a problem as it use to be." Amara answered as Brandon smiled at the thought of Amara calming a volcano.

"Hey since we are on this subject, you have to promise me no more solo training sessions. You were joking earlier but I need a serious response this time, you can't do that solo training any more," Amara spoke as she grabbed his arm putting him in an arm bar.

Brandon stood there Amara holding him in place some what with the arm bar. A smile crossed Brandon's face as he finally decided on whether to accept her demand or not.

"Using the moves I taught you against me huh, well ok I promise from now on I won't train alone." Brandon promised as she let him go.

"Good you'll learn to like following my orders," she teased as Brandon grinned evilly.

"Really if you haven't notice I have this problem obeying orders, princess." Brandon teased laughing as he ran off Amara in hot pursuit.

The two ran past the pool and close to Ms. Munroe's garden as he moved even faster. She was gaining but he moved faster running quickly towards the garage, he had to hope that someone was there that could help him.

"I'm going to catch you, its payback time for all those royalty remarks," Amara yelled as Brandon quickly made his way through the garage and into the mansion.

"Only if you can catch me, which the way you are moving I highly doubt it," Brandon taunted as Amara moved even faster towards him.

Looking around quickly he finally found a way to dodge her heading straight for an area only the bravest of people entered. The library had become X-23 personal hideaway and none of the students or instructors for the most part entered the room. Brandon ran in shutting the door jumping over a couch as X-23 looked on.

"Look I'm not here ok," Brandon pleaded trying to convince X-23 to help him.

'Even though I still feel a little tired, I need to get in some fun like this. I never had fun like this in the marines, maybe that's why…' Brandon thought as he saw X-23 glaring at him from his hiding place.

She looked at him weird and then watched as Amara stormed into the room. She looked around carefully, trying to think of where Brandon would be hiding.

"He's right there," X-23 barked pointing to Brandon's hiding form behind a chair.

Amara grinned as Brandon jumped up and attempted to run out of the room. Brandon fell to the ground as Amara tackled him.

"So do you surrender?" Amara asked as she pinned Brandon on the ground.

"I surrender, thanks for your help X-23," Brandon answered sarcastically as X-23 just shook her head.

All three of them looked up as Scott entered the room and immediately turned their heads towards him. He looked at X-23 then Brandon and then noticed Amara who was sitting on Brandon's chest.

"You two don't need a room do you?" he joked as he offered to help Brandon up after Amara had literally jumped off of him.

"Thanks I appreciate the help, Mara here has the advantage since I'm still a little tired," Brandon spoke as he accepted the help laughing about the previous scene.

Brandon looked as the three of them started to laugh, with X-23 looking on confused. It was hard for her to take in, this man was a soldier yet he was acting just like another one of them.

"What's up Scott, I assume you came looking for someone?" Brandon asked as Amara stepped behind him.

"I was wondering if you would be willing to reconsider training with the X-Men. You got some serious skills; we could use you on the team." Scott commented he had heard from Jaime all about Brandon's earlier demolition of the danger room, as Brandon nodded his head in understanding.

'The X-Men, that's the elite team here at the institute. I'm not ready to be on that team, as far as I know no one on the X-Men has openly said they were going to kill someone. I don't think they would understand that, they haven't met Reaper before in combat. The X-Men mean a lot to me, they have really high ideals, and I don't think I would fit with them yet. I have one final act to do as a marine before I consider joining the X-Men or even training with them.' Brandon thought looking at Scott and his red shades.

"I understand the fact that you are trying to put together the best team, but I don't think it would work out right now. Besides I don't think I am X-Men material, just a marine that is looking to deal with the issues at hand," Brandon replied as Amara held his right hand.

Scott looked a little disappointed at Brandon's words; he really wanted Brandon to join. The fact was Brandon would be a great asset for any team that he joined, and Scott was hoping that he would lend his considerable power and military background to the X-Men.

"I understand what you are saying Brandon, but could you at least think about it," Scott asked as Brandon looked on.

"Sure no problem," Brandon spoke as he looked on; Amara seemed to be very nervous since Scott entered the room.

Brandon watched as Scott left he was satisfied to a point managing to get Brandon to consider joining the X-Men. Brandon looked over at X-23, who seemed to be napping and then looked at Amara.

"Hey Amara, why are you so nervous around Scott?" Brandon questioned trying to get to the root of the problem.

"Well he is kind of like the big brother around here and he always makes me a little nervous." Amara answered as Brandon ran past her.

"Yes I got away, you are going to have to do better than that if you are going to catch me," Brandon yelled as Amara ran after him leaving a very confused X-23 behind.

Brandon ran right pass Tabby and Jubilee, who immediately helped out their friend by tripping Brandon. Brandon looked up as the two just smiled innocently and Amara made up the ground quickly.

"Damn why does everyone help Amara around here," Brandon said sarcastically as he got up, running off again before Amara could catch him.

The two made their way through until Brandon ran through the living room and right into Piotr. Brandon fell to the floor as Piotr just bent over to help his friend back onto his feet.

"Comrade are you ok?" Piotr asked as he helped Brandon up and on his feet.

"I'm doing great, could you uh help hide me from Amara, she is just…" Brandon spoke as he heard Amara rounding the corner.

"It's too late for that," Amara yelled as she rounded the corner nearly tackling Brandon to the floor.

"Ok I'm exhausted; I surrender for real this time. Even in the corp no one chased me for this long except Alan when I owed him some money," Brandon returned as he held up his hands to surrender.

Piotr watched as Amara smiled in satisfaction, she had won and Brandon had lost. Piotr shook his head, hoping that he and Katya acted like this someday as Brandon slowly dropped his hands back down to his side.

"So what's my prize for winning this little race?" Amara asked as Brandon smiled as an idea popped in his head.

He grabbed her pulling her in close and giving her a very passionate kiss. Piotr just looked on in shock as the two continued to kiss for what felt like an eternity. Tabby and Jubilee also had followed them and watched on approving of the scene.

"That good enough," Brandon said with a smirk as he pulled away from Amara, enjoying the look of surprise on her face.

'I don't believe this; I've fallen for a guy that I've only known for less than a year. He is just so different from anyone else that I have met; I've never felt like this before. I hope we can be like this for a very long time, despite what I will have to do soon.' Amara thought as Brandon gazed into her eyes.

"Amara, how did you manage to land him?" Jubilee asked as she thought about her dream date with Bobby.

"I have no earthly idea, just know that he is mine," Amara answered a dreamy smile on her face.

Jubilee and Tabby nodded, understanding the statement very well. The fact was that the single girls usually chased after the unavailable, but they doubted Brandon would even pay attention to anyone else.

Brandon looked at Amara carefully and smirked responding to her comment, "So I belong to you now huh, can't say that I don't like the sound of that."

Brandon and Amara left the room in good spirits with Brandon picking her up and carrying her as the others looked on. Even Ororo laughed at the sight of the two, it was a sight to behold until the two ran into Logan.

"Mr. Logan how…"Amara stammered as she jumped out of Brandon's hands.

"Marine, just remember our little chat, and I'll just let this go," Logan growled as the two nodded their heads sliding to one side so Logan could pass.

Logan walked off growling something about kids starting to get on his nerves when the two finally collapsed on the ground.

"What a relief, I thought he was going to kill me. That guy is just weird, I think he has something against people having fun," Brandon spoke, even as a marine Logan still scared him.

'I almost wish he did finish me, my grandfather he will be arriving soon. I don't know if this is going to be a pleasant meeting, this may not go the way I would like it to. For now though, I would like to enjoy the time that I have with my friends and my girlfriend.' Brandon thought as his mind raced from his run in with Logan.

Brandon turned carefully as Amara placed her hand on his shoulder; he seemed to be a little lost in thought at the moment. Bowing his head carefully he barely heard Amara's next comment.

"You are one lucky person; the only other person that seems to partially get away with this stuff is Scott." Amara commented as the two started to laugh.

The two laughed as Brandon seemed to snap out of his confusion. Brandon stood up quickly, helping Amara up with his free hand. Both of them looked towards the den hearing a lot of voices echoing through the room.

"Hey everyone you might want to see this," Ray yelled as Brandon and Amara walked into the room and took a seat.

"What's going on?" Brandon asked as everyone shook their head not pleased at what they had just heard.

"Kelly is running for the senate on an anti mutant ticket, guess being mayor wasn't enough for him," Bobby replied as everyone bowed their heads.

'Racist bastard, why is it one of these crazy lunatics gets voted in on a hate this group ticket every decade or so. Never did like politics, grandfather always said that politicians were the bane of humanity, wouldn't be any wars if they didn't cause them. Personally I don't like them either; the last one I met was an arrogant, egotistical bastard of a man.' Brandon thought his eyes searching the room watching the reaction of the others.

Brandon looked on as the news continued to report on Kelly's campaign chances. The news estimated a 59 chance for victory for this guy to win. Brandon looked at the others they were taking this very hard; they all had a look of disappointment on their face.

"Well at least he won't be hounding us during city council meetings," Roberto spoke as the others started to laugh.

"Look for the silver lining," Brandon said as the students celebrated their small victory.

Next Chapter: Three Stars

Brandon's grandfather arrives, the two meeting for the first time since the NRI attack. Amara nervously awaits her own meeting with the general when he realizes that the two have a relationship.


	13. Three Stars

**AN: Everything is going well with the fic so please read andreview, I need all the help I can get. **

Brandon waited patiently in a few hours his grandfather would arrive, but Brandon had been pacing around his room ever since the day of his visit had arrived. His pacing increased in his room as he paced back and forth in the room, waiting the best he could.

'I'm not a patient person when it comes to things like this, not to mention the large amount of topics that have to be covered today. I need to know a few things, and my grandfather is the only one that can tell me.' Brandon thought as he stopped pacing for a moment moving towards the door when a knock was heard.

In another part of the institute Logan downed the rest of his beer and made his way to Chuck's office. Logan walked right in not even bothering to knock as the Professor looked up at him.

"I'm taking off to handle a few things I'll be back later." Logan barked as the Professor looked at him carefully.

"I understand that you have something you need to do, but with General Ayers coming today are you that you don't want to be here?" Professor Xavier asked as Logan growled a little.

"Yeah I'm sure I'll be back later, the marine can handle his family issues. Later Chuck," Logan growled out as he left the room as the Professor watched him turn the corner knowing he was heading for his prized motorcycles.

'I wonder what has Logan so distraught, he seemed to be motivated in leaving here before Brandon's grandfather arrived. Something about this visit has Logan irritated; I wonder if there is a past between General Ayers and Logan.' Professor Xavier thought as he heard Logan's motorcycle roar down the driveway leaving the institute.

Meanwhile two black cars and a black truck made their way through New York at top speeds. General Henry Ayers stood there holding the intelligence reports that had been gathered about the institute, his black eyes glancing over the information. He lifted up a piece of paper only glancing at the picture attached to it; he looked down at the information that was on the file taking it in carefully, the file was labeled Rasputin, Piotr. An African American colonel with black hair and a pair of small black glasses sat next to the General handing him another file this time labeled Aquilla, Amara with a picture of her attached to it.

Glancing back at the picture and the information General Ayers spoke to the colonel next to him, "Are you sure about this colonel? I can't afford Brandon to become distracted by this girl, my plans for him are too important to be ruined by a third world spoiled brat."

"Sir, I know you may not want to hear this but my information is accurate. Brandon and this young lady have begun a relationship; we have been watching the institute since its founding after all. Mutants are nothing new to the senior staff of the military; they have just been classified to protect the public until their revelation during the first sentinel incident." Colonel Jerry Thayer responded looking over the other reports that had been received.

"Is SHIELD still interested in retrieving this one, I don't think my grandson would allow that. He is very protective of those that he cares about and those he sees as teammates. Then again most likely they don't know about it yet or they would have tried something, and I have no intention of telling them, they have been refusing to cooperate with us in tracking down Reaper and the stolen discs." General Ayers spoke looking over the file that contained details on X-23.

'Those stupid fools created a girl as a weapon; no one is born a weapon. What was Hydra or the US army thinking when they funded this project to clone Weapon X? I don't approve of such methods, nor will I ever allow events like that as long as I'm in the marine corp.' General Ayers thought as he thumbed through the file labeled in big red letters with CLASSIFIED: X-23 PROJECT.

"Have I seen the military intelligence files for all of the occupants at the institute? I've been looking over all of the files and have a good understanding of everyone there so far. Such a group striving for peace it is an admirable goal, but I want no surprise guests being there. This meeting between me and my grandson will be priority alpha classified." General Ayers bellowed moving towards other files that he had brought with him.

"Sir there will be no surprises we have an exact count of all occupants. Also your grandson has seemingly enough taken a job as an instructor with the institute." Colonel Thayer answered a little nervous about going to the institute.

"Well it has been a while since I did something like this you better get on the horn with home base and make sure NRI hasn't sunk into hell with me being gone. My grandson as a drill instructor never thought that would happen, I wonder what kind of results he has received, I'll have to ask him about that if I have time." General Ayers stated as he picked up a black suitcase containing a lot of classified military documents.

Colonel Thayer merely nodded, picking up a secure phone to check on the status of NRI while the general was away. Putting the files up the General carefully took out a small picture that he kept in his pocket. The picture was of Brandon in his dress uniform with his grandfather standing beside him in his own dress uniform. The old general smiled his thoughts drifting to what he considered better days.

'My grandson after what happened to my own son, I always hoped the best would happen for you. It seems I may once again have to dash your dreams of a normal life, I hope this information I have is of some use to you. I hope the Colonel's information is wrong about your new girlfriend; I can't have her interfering with you. You are too important to my plans, I have to make sure she doesn't compromise you,' General Ayers thought as his convoy crossed into Bayville city limits.

"Sir base reports that recon team two have detected the launch of a sentinel model HS-96, heading towards an Indian reservation. I've already ordered the team to intercept and to recover all available parts. The platoon is equipped with SMAWs; it shouldn't be a problem for them to retrieve what is left of the machine." Colonel Thayer commented as the General finally appeared to snap out of his thought.

"Hmm," General Ayers said as he focused on the new information, "A shoulder-launched multipurpose assault weapon (SMAW) being effective against a sentinel that would be interesting, order them to engage as they see fit. Those things are basically missile launchers, I don't recall a sentinel being that easily destroyed so it might take a little more have aerial support on stand by, have the remains sent directly to NRI for study. I want a full report in 48 hours on capabilities of the sentinel."

"Yes sir, we will arrive at the institute momentarily, would you like to stop to pick anything up before your visit sir?" Colonel Thayer spoke as the General place his picture back in his uniform pocket.

"No that will be all Colonel, all marines with the exception of my four guards will remain outside. No one is to engage the residents here without my express order, relay that order to all marines that are with us." General Ayers replied as he grabbed his hat commonly referred to as a top and placed it on his head.

The convoy pulled in up to the gate of the institute waiting patiently to be allowed in as the residents watched the vehicles begin to pull into the drive way. The two black cars were followed by the black truck into the institute as the gates close behind the three military vehicles.

Amara knocked on Brandon's door carefully entering as Brandon adjusted the uniform that he was wearing. It was the basic uniform that he normally wore while training. Amara looked at him carefully as his usual smirk appeared as he looked at her.

"No offense," Amara started as Brandon walked over to her, "shouldn't you wear something nicer than your uniform."

"Really well don't worry about it, he's probably wont even notice the uniform. I got to say you look nice though, are you trying to impress my grandfather," Brandon teased as Amara started to blush at his comment.

"Well he is really important to you, and I want to make a good impression on him when he does get here." Amara stated her face returning to normal as Brandon seemed to frown at that comment.

Brandon looked at Amara carefully she looked great in his opinion but he and his grandfather had big differences of opinions in some matters. Brandon's gaze focused on Amara as she picked up on his discontent.

"Brandon is something wrong?" Amara asked as Brandon rubbed his forehead with his right hand.

"Just don't worry if you don't impress my grandfather, he's important to me but he is hard to impress. He has a hard job and he has to be naturally suspicious of people so please don't take what he says to seriously. Be very careful with him Amara, he will not be easy to impress and he probably already knows about you." Brandon answered not pleased with the impending meeting between the two of them.

Amara walked over to him wrapping her hands around his back giving him a hug, placing her head on the area over his heart. Brandon held her carefully his heart and thoughts racing as he wrapped his own arms around her.

'If you survive this Amara, I swear I'll make it up to you. I know that grandfather will not be pleased with you; he's never pleased with anyone that I date. No one is good enough in his mind for me, I could never figure out why he was always so harsh with the girls I choose to date.' Brandon thought as he continued to hold Amara close to him.

"Comrade there is a group of people here to see you, and it seems there are more of them outside. The others are already gathering downstairs with the exception of Logan," Piotr said as he knocked on the door once before entering the room.

Brandon looked at Piotr letting go of Amara as he pulled away from her. They walked into the lobby where Professor Xavier and Ororo stood there waiting along with four other men in marine uniforms. Brandon looked one was indeed his grandfather, the man looked well he still had his graying hair and standing about Brandon heights. The two were mirror images with the exception of age, height, and hair color.

"Brandon it is good to see you again, you look well," General Ayers stated as Brandon stopped in front of his grandfather saluting the senior officer as the other marines seemed to turn their attention towards him.

"I keep forgetting at time that I am no longer a marine and no longer need to salute you, but it is good to see you again," Brandon answered as the two starred at each other, Amara walked up to Brandon grabbing his free left hand and holding it gently.

Brandon and his grandfather stood there looking at each other unsure of where to begin. General Ayers immediately turned his attention to Amara when he noticed that she was holding the hand of his grandson.

"Who is this young lady?" he asked trying to make them think he was unaware of who she was as Brandon looked at him carefully.

"This grandfather is my girlfriend Amara Aquilla, and that there is my best friend here at the institute, Piotr," Brandon replied as he pointed out the two people standing close to him.

Amara watched as the man walked around her as he seemed to be judging her. He walked a full circle around them and stopped looking at Brandon's other friend Piotr. General Ayers nodded his head and motioned his men to sit down.

"I see, I will talk with this young lady and my grandson alone now," General Ayers bellowed as he motioned the marines to step outside.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir, I have been looking forward to meeting you," Amara spoke trying to be very polite using all of the royal training she had received to offset the nervous feelings and the intimidation that were being caused by the man.

"Everyone out with the exception of her and my grandson now. This isn't a request consider it an order," General Ayers bellowed as the marines left the room leaving only the Professor, Brandon, Amara, Ms. Munroe, and all of the occupants of the institute.

'Professor if you can hear this please take the others and leave as well, I'll help Amara deal with my grandfather. I promise that I can handle the situation and that you have nothing to worry about, but please keep the others from spying. Grandfather has issues with spooks; he might not show his normal amount of self-control considering the issues at hand.' Brandon thought as the Professor sent him a reply as he and Ororo finally left the room as well the students following behind them.

Brandon held Amara's hand carefully as his grandfather seemed to stare at both of them. It was an icy stare, the stare reserved for marines that had failed their mission or had done something to violate the UCMJ. The two watched as the general seemingly stomped forward his eyes radiating anger.

"Young lady, I know full and well who you are, the princess of Nova Roma. The lost colony of the Romans in South America, I have a few questions or rather demands of you." General Ayers bellowed as his voice echoed through the room.

"I understand perfectly would you like something to drink," Amara replied continuing to maintain her composure towards Brandon's grandfather.

"You can skip your false pleasantries and tell me why a princess would want to be with a low birth son, like my grandson?" General Ayers spoke his voice full of venom towards Amara.

Amara stood there for a moment seemingly caught off guard by the question. Brandon squeezed her hand gently reminding her that she should answer the question as soon as possible.

"Our births don't matter, what matters are the fact that we care for each other. I'm not a princess to Brandon and he is not just a marine to me." Amara answered attempting to placate the man.

"Bullshit, as soon as you find someone better you will move away from my grandson. I think this is just a ploy for a third world princess to put her country in a more favorable position with the United States. Having married or being in a relationship with a marine related to one of the most powerful generals on the planet isn't a bad idea after all. I may not like politics but they always come into play somewhere down the line." General Ayers yelled his voice full of anger towards Amara and her title.

"I can assure you that our relationship will not in any way influence future diplomatic relations with the United States government, and since I am a royal princess shouldn't you be displaying more respect to a representative of a foreign country." Amara answered her voice full of confidence towards the general.

"Nova Roma is not officially recognized as of yet by the United States government as a foreign nation. As for giving you diplomatic status, you are here to learn to control your abilities not to be the diplomatic envoy of your country. I must say I wonder why a spoiled brat such as you would even want a relationship with a poor marine such as my grandson. What could the two of you possibly have in common, you are from different worlds?" General Ayers stated putting in a counter to her comment as he put his briefcase on the floor.

'That's it I've had about enough of this interrogation, I've been quiet to long. I've allowed grandfather too much liberty with this conversation. Its time to put this to rest,' Brandon thought as his grandfather started to continue his words.

"Your argument barely holds water with me, as far as I'm concern you are not…" General Ayers started, picking up the black suitcase, but he didn't manage to finish as Amara interrupted him.

Brandon was about to intercept the conversation and intervene when Amara cut him off, "That's enough you will treat me and my relationship with Brandon with respect. You've done nothing but insult me and Brandon with your actions. I'm leaving; I don't want to say something to you that I will regret later, or that will hurt Brandon's relationship with you."

Amara left the room quickly as Brandon glared at his grandfather; the two of them still had to talk. Brandon watched as Amara rounded the corner into relative safety with Scott and Jean waiting for her.

"Grandfather your behavior is absolutely unacceptable; if Amara hadn't cut me off I might have said or done something I would regret and I still might." Brandon stated his anger showing at his grandfather for his treatment of Amara.

"Brandon please, I just want what is the best for my only grandson. That is all, I would order you to break off this relationship but since you are no longer in the marines I doubt you would now." General Ayers stated as Brandon's continued to glare at his grandfather.

"I don't have time for this, the others are waiting and we still need to talk." Brandon replied not interested in hearing his grandfather's excuses.

Brandon and his grandfather starred at each other neither one backing down from the other. It was then that Brandon's grandfather seemed to smile, finally backing down from his grandson.

"Fine, this way this conversation is better concluded in a more private place in the institute," Brandon said as the two walked towards the Professor's office.

The two walked past the halls as some of the students watched the general move through the halls; they had never seen this before. Even Scott was impressed when the three-star general walked past him and into the Professor's office. Brandon shut the door, and the two sat down quickly both wanting to finish this as soon as possible.

"So Xavier volunteered his office, for this little discussion," General Ayers bellowed as the two stared at each other.

"Let's skip the bull shit, you have already irritated me with your conduct towards Amara, so what do you know about General Thomas Kincaid?" Brandon asked as his grandfather started to smile.

"Well he got blamed for the entire NRI incident by the Joint Chiefs; I never managed to sign the document saying the transfer was complete leaving it as his mess. Kincaid has been a bastard of a man since his beginning days, he sees threats where there are none and will make any alliance to push his own agenda. Despite his many screw ups, he still manages to get himself promoted one way or another." General Ayers replied as he handed Brandon the black suitcase that he had carried with him.

"What's this, and what is the current status of the Joint Chiefs. My intelligence says that there is a lot of power struggle emerging between two different groups within the Pentagon." Brandon countered as he started to open the suitcase.

He looked on in shock; this was a complete list of all the information that was stolen from NRI. He flipped the page finding military intelligence reports on Reaper, Kincaid, and the little they had on the boss running the show. It was a lot of information to take in, Brandon was surprised that he was just being handed the information so easily.

"As far as the military is concerned these files do not exist and you are one of an elite few allowed access to them. I've set up a cover identity for you as a 1st Lieutenant in the marine corp to access information that we gather during this time your new military id and access codes are included in those files. The fact is the United States military doesn't pose much of a threat to this Reaper or his master at the moment; you and a few other select individuals have become our only option available to fight against this new threat at least for the time being any way. Its one of the reasons that I was concerned about your new relationship with the foolish princess," General Ayers stated as he took a deep breath after his long winded comment.

"Always hiding your motives for everything grandfather, my relationship with Amara helps me keep my strength and even grow stronger. I appreciate the cover identity and all but I probably wouldn't be here if it wasn't for Amara, so keep your irritation with her to yourself." Brandon replied as his grandfather sat down in the Professor's chair.

"If Reaper found out about her how long do you think she would really last my boy? Could you really protect her after what happened at NRI? Reaper is a nasty bastard that won't hesitate to use a relationship like this to his advantage. You are placing yourself at a distinct disadvantage and her in serious danger," General Ayers coldly stated his military mind had already analyzed the situation.

"The next time I face Reaper I fully intend to kill him with any means available to me. If he so much as touches Amara I will use the most powerful attack I have and I'll die trying before he even lays one of his cold grey hands on her. He'll be dead and this wont be a damn problem, because he isn't living after what happened at NRI he doesn't deserve to," Brandon answered sheer anger apparent in his voice at the mention of Reaper.

'There is more to this than what he is saying, he is up to something otherwise he wouldn't be doing all of this. What are you planning exactly; you are clearly making your own preparations for something by doing all of this. I also have to go through all of this information now, on top of the information Alan has given me.' Brandon thought as his grandfather reached into his uniform pocket.

General Ayers stood there for a moment closing his eyes as he pulled out the picture of him and Brandon. Looking down at the picture the General looked at his grandson across the room, it had already started to happen he was slowly changing into something else.

"I am just concerned you might be placing yourself at too much of a tactical disadvantage. As for your previous question, the military leadership of the country in general is in chaos. Yes there is a small struggle between three groups, but after you took out the factory the anti mutant faction has lost a lot of clout with the undecided generals. It was a major blow, but not a finishing one, there are other factories being built right now as we speak." Ayers barked as Brandon nodded his head in understanding.

"More factories are being built which means even more sentinels. I see, so there are more of these new sentinels being built by the military. Why are they being built, I thought there weren't suppose to be any more after the last model failed preproduction test?" Brandon asked as his grandfather took a drink of water.

"The anti-mutant generals went behind our backs to build those damn things. A few of us warned them not to do this, but they went through with it despite our best efforts to convince the otherwise. It took a lot to get it shut down the first time, but Kincaid managed to convince them to reactivate the project. He said that he had new ideas and prototypes to work with and that was enough for some members of the Joint Chiefs to funnel black ops money in, which means that there is nothing I can do to stop it now. I can however make preparations to deal with their mess," General Ayers answered as the two bowed their heads slightly.

"No one bothered to ask where these ideas came from, they just let him run with whatever was in that morons head. Which generals approved this project anyway?" Brandon said not pleased with what he had just heard.

"It's all in the information I gave you…" General Ayers stated as Colonel Thayer entered the room heading straight towards the general with a very pale look on his face.

"General Ayers, sir, I'm afraid we must cut this short, recon team two reports that they intercepted the sentinel before it arrived at its target. It took a bit more than we expected but the sentinel has been disabled and all parts are being sent to NRI for study. The scientists want to go over proposals with you ASAP sir," Colonel Thayer whispered to the General as he waved the man off sending him back outside.

'It seems there is something wrong, but I know better than to ask. The Colonel is a decent man if it was meant for me to know he would have said that out loud. I wonder what has him so nervous though,' Brandon thought as Colonel Thayer left the room quickly leaving them alone again.

"I see you recalled Colonel Thayer from Gitmo, I'm guessing Thompson wasn't your favorite XO. I like the Colonel he is a decent and honorable man, who judges other based on action. Guess he takes after you, he is after all one of your chosen officers," Brandon commented as his grandfather started to smile.

"Yes he is a good man, since you may no longer be able to take your place as a general I have to groom someone to succeed me. Someone to keep these fools from starting World War Three over a cause as irrelevant as the way someone was born. The Marines have lost too many good men in the last war to such a foolish thinking by such fools, you would think people would learn from the past not continue such foolish errors." General Ayers stated as the two heard noises from outside the institute.

The two sat there not saying a word when they both looked outside through the window at the marines who were standing guard. There were at least thirty marines walking outside standing guard or pacing around the area as they continued to watch them. Turning their attention to a field they both witnessed a game of mutant ball about to begin.

"I'm glad you finally have a place to train without holding back. I may not like that rich, spoiled brat princess you are dating but I am very glad you chose to remain here. Granted it must be nice for you my boy; finally having a place where you don't have to hold back. I spent so many years training you; I know that it pained you having to hold back especially during a few military operations." General Ayers spoke as the two students ran off.

"I have a few more questions, why did you send me here?" Brandon questioned as he shut the door and moved to sat down again.

"I have been looking at intelligence on this place since it was first opened; I always thought you would have been a fine addition here. In fact at one time I was considering sending you here, but I knew you would never want to leave the marines. The one thing, the only thing I need to know about this place was that Xavier dreamed about an environment where humans and those with abilities like your own lived in peace. Peace is a good goal but Xavier needs a lot of help, his dream may very well be impossible to accomplish." General Ayers answered as Brandon looked at him cautiously.

"So you sent me to live in a place that had a dream that you and I could both agree with. At least that would be preferable considering what would have happened if Kincaid might have grabbed me. I intend to make sure that the Professor's dreams come true in my own way, I know that peace can't be accomplished through words alone sometime more dubious actions are necessary." Brandon spoke as the two looked out a window.

The two watched as Ms. Munroe watered some plants and some of the students played outside. A game of mutantball was starting as a few marines watched the game, some even laughing at the unusual style of play. It was an odd family, but it was a family to Brandon.

"You should know I see them as my family and teammates now; I will protect them from any threat whether it is from the Pentagon or someone else." Brandon acknowledge as the game was clearly underway a streaking Sam catching the ball while digging a trench in the field.

"I thought so; I could tell that you had developed a relationship with them. You bond quickly to those that you perceive to need your help, and there was always one thing that I always neglected to provide for you. This large family, it may give you some comfort just like the Marine corp did for you before you were discharged." General Ayers responded as the two watched the marines laugh at the game that was being played.

"I have two final questions and then you can go or do whatever it is you need to do. What do you know about the man pulling the strings of Reaper and Kincaid? Also I need to know whose side you are on exactly." Brandon asked the two questions after looking at his grandfather's reaction to the game.

"I will always be on your side, and so will a lot of marines. Your efforts at NRI have made you a hero among most of the marines, they believe that they can coexist with those that have special abilities and they are spreading that idea wherever they are sent. Marines value action and by your actions the attitudes toward mutants in the corp has changed. As for the man that is pulling the strings, we can't find anything on him, by all accounts the only proof we have that he exist is the fact that Reaper is too much of an idiot to act on his own according to the intelligence that we have gathered. Remember the Marine Corp motto semper fidelis," General Ayers spoke as the two watched the game from the window.

Brandon looked outside as the game started to heat up and the majority of the marines laughed enjoying the game they were seeing. Brandon watched as his grandfather started to leave the office as Brandon turned again this time to stop him.

"I appreciate what you've done, I've missed you. It just isn't the same, but I like what I have become here." Brandon spoke as the two stood side by side.

"When you fought Reaper and disobeyed your orders, I knew that it was time for you to do something bigger. You may have been discharged because of your actions, but I had never been prouder to be your grandfather when I found out you had left your post to engage him. Your parents would have been proud of your actions as well, of that I can promise you," General Ayers countered as the two walked out of the office and into the lobby.

Stopping for a moment Brandon dropped off the black suitcase in his room placing it on his bed while his grandfather waited rather impatiently so they could continue walking. Brandon nodded his head acknowledging the praise, his grandfather wasn't an easy man to get praise from or any words of encouragement. The two had always possessed an unusual relationship, but Brandon never thought much of it.

"I appreciate that, so now that the business is concluded there is one last thing. What did you really think of Amara?" Brandon questioned as his grandfather stopped to laugh.

"My boy, I don't approve of her to a point but she is very spirited. Your last girlfriend ran away in tears, screaming when I started my first diatribe on the fact that she was looking for an easy life. This one stood there holding her ground responding politely to my comments, she only left because she didn't want to insult me in front of you." General Ayers responded as Brandon shook his head in disappointment.

"No offense grandfather, you are a little intimidating for most people. Could you lighten up some and take it easy on her, her life hasn't been easy either. All I ask is that you be polite to her and take the time to get the know her. Why is it that you are so against her any way?" Brandon said as the two started to smile enjoying one of the precious few moments they had to be together.

"I just want what is best for you my grandson; you are the last of our family line. I just want to make sure that this relationship is what I perceive to be the best for you. I will try to comply with your request about her, which reminds me there is something I need to give you outside." the general answered as Brandon looked at him confused about the last part of his comment.

"Wait there is one last thing, I almost forgot but it is really important. No doubt you read the file on Noriko Ashida; I was wondering if there was anything that military research and development could do about those bulky gauntlets she wears. Could you please look into it for me," Brandon asked trying his best to help Noriko with her situation.

"Yes I recall seeing her file she requires those gauntlets to keep her gift in check. I suppose I could check into a few classified technologies we are developing, I'll have research and development contact Dr. McCoy if they come up with something that is feasible." General Ayers responded as Brandon smiled at his grandfather, the two turning to leave the office.

Brandon walked with his grandfather as the two left the office and headed out of the mansion and towards the truck that had come with the general. In a quick movement of his hand the tarp of the truck was pulled back revealing six boxes labeled property of the United States Marine Corp. Five marines jumped onto the truck pulling down one of the boxes and placing it at a level that when opened Brandon and his grandfather could see inside.

"Sir is this box that you wanted to view first," a marine private stated as General Ayers nodded his head.

"Yes take the other boxes inside and follow the instructions of the adults that are there. You will place these boxes where they see fit, and hurry we don't have much time, I need to get back to NRI ASAP," General Ayers bellowed as the marines saluted picking up the other boxes and carrying them inside, as the other students ran over noticing that something was happening near the military vehicles.

'Hmm so some of these must be Brandon's students I must say I am not impressed. They look more like a group of misguided group of kids. They are going to need this new armor more than I thought if this is what my grandson has to work with here at this institute.' General Ayers thought as the marines ran around carrying out his orders.

Brandon peered into crate carefully noticing that it was covered with a black tarp. Noticing the others joining him, he pulled back the tarp carefully revealing a new uniform.

"This is my gift to this institute; I can't have my grandson and his teammates fighting battles in such primitive armor. This is the latest in military defensive technology; it's made out of a new mixture, a combination of boron carbide ceramic, polyethylene, and tri-titanium. It's a level five protection the best that has ever come out of military research and development; it could stop a bullet from even the most powerful assault rifle. This is the next generation of armor after the Interceptor system we use today; we call it the Goliath system since it has proven itself to be virtually unaffected by shrapnel from grenades or bullets from assault weapons. It does not however protect fools from being blown to bits so don't go thinking you are invincible with this armor," General Ayers stated as Brandon looked at the uniform carefully pulling it out of the container.

"Wow I appreciate this grandfather, but are you sure this is acceptable. What if someone starts looking for these?" Brandon asked as his grandfather merely laughed about the comment.

"I'll handle that; I already have these listed as damaged beyond repair. Besides with this group of kids you are going to need it, these kids will take a beating. I've read up on most of your abilities and to be honest most of your abilities are unimpressive. My grandson needs all of the help he can get to turn you into better fighters and having good equipment is my way to help my grandson keep you alive." General Ayers stated as Ray and Roberto seemed to take offense to those comments.

"Hey…" both started to say when Jean stopped them by sending them a telepathic warning.

The others looked at the uniform it was heavily armored compared to what they were currently wearing. Scott and Jean looked as Brandon handed Scott the uniform to inspect for himself.

"What do you think Scott? I think we might need to change the color but it would help in combat," Brandon asked curious to find out his friends opinion on the matter.

"It's definitely something that we can use, thank you for the armor General Ayers." Scott answered smiling thinking of the possibility that this armor could create for them.

"Hmm think nothing of it young man, just watch out for my grandson here. He tends to attract trouble like no one else before him in our family. I've read a lot about you young man, your battle record is most impressive," General Ayers stated as he offered to shake hands with Scott.

"Thank you General but it was a group effort, we train hard to be able to learn not only control but also to protect others." Scott stated as Jean and the others smiled at his response.

"Don't sell yourself short young man; a combat team is only as affective as the person that leads them in battle. Ask my grandson if you don't believe me, he knows first hand about this. You two could learn a lot from each other," General Ayers replied as the marines picked up the open crate and took it back inside the mansion.

'Brandon's grandfather is an interesting man, but I don't like the way he treated Amara. Jean what do you think about him?' Scott thought as Jean picked up on it due to the bond that the two shared.

'He may act tough and mean, but he only wants what is best for Brandon. His job also requires him to be harsh towards many people. Don't take his actions towards Amara to harshly he only wants to protect his last surviving family member and in a way her.' Jean answered through her own thoughts.

Everyone turned quickly when Amara joined them, Brandon watched as his grandfather walked towards Amara. Everyone had become very silent and was watching the three of them as the General seemed to frown.

"Ms. Aquilla, I expect you to take good care of my grandson. He must really care a lot about you, because he has never openly opposed or asked me to tone down my attitude. That boy tends to get in over his head so watch out for him okay? I may not like this relationship nor approve of it, but I will accept it for the time being." General Ayers barked as a marine ran forward opening his car door.

"I understand, he does tend to get in way over his head," Amara commented as the man smiled.

"You have no idea my dear, the next time I am in town we will have to get to know each other better. Perhaps by getting to know you better I will be more accepting of this relationship, I am just perplexed by my grandson's choice for a girlfriend. I have some personal leave coming in the next few months near Christmas; if the two of you are still dating I want you both to visit. I will try not to be as rude next time, it seems my grandson will be angry with me if I do," Henry Ayers answered as Amara nodded her head.

Amara looked at the General carefully before answering, "I would be honored to visit you when you are on leave. I'm sure you'll like me when you get to know me more."

Amara watched as he entered the car and motioned for the marines to board their vehicles. Amara had to admit at first she had been intimidated by the man, he was one of the leaders of the most powerful military in the world.

General Ayers watched from the back of his car as Brandon walked away heading back to the mansion. Turning his head towards the front the general sighed and looked at the colonel carefully.

"I do not know if he can handle the responsibilities I am placing on him, particularly with the girl distracting him. Tell the research crews that project Asgard, Leviathan, and Revitalization just became top priorities for the military. We must ensure that things do not move past the Rubicon, because the future will not forgive us for allowing such a thing to come to past. I can only hope that my grandson is strong enough to hold the darkness back until we are ready to stand with him," General Ayers stated his mind focused on dealing with the threat at hand.

'I hope you are happy staying there my boy, enjoy the peace while you can. The darkness is enveloping this world, so we must ensure that there are heroes and warriors to stop it. Which is why Revitalization must succeed, we need our greatest hero back if we are to stop this new threat.' Henry Ayers thought as he closed his eyes attempting to get some sleep.

"Yes sir, I'll pass along the instructions immediately along with checking on the status of the recently acquired HS-96 sentinel model." Colonel Thayer spoke as the General merely nodded seemingly enough drifting off too sleep.

"Man Amara, your boyfriend's grandfather is really intimidating. I think he and Mr. Logan must have taken the same class, it radiates off of him just like it does Logan." Roberto joked only to receive a glare from Amara.

Scott looked on as Amara walked away, no doubt looking for Brandon. Scott turned to Jean and the two looked at each other trying to understand this visit.

"What did you think Jean?" Scott asked as he tried to figure out the visit himself.

"Brandon sure has an interesting family, but for now we better get ready. You promised to take me out to a fine restaurant," Jean answered as she grabbed his hand.

The two kissed lightly as they made their way back to the mansion and the students ran off to do whatever they wanted. Amara searched the area noticing that Brandon had disappeared as soon as his grandfather had entered his car.

"What are you doing out here alone?" Amara asked as she tried to figure out what he was thinking.

"I was just thinking about the discussion that my grandfather and I just had. I'm not sure what to make of it just yet, he isn't an easy person to read just because he says something don't take it at face value. I'm not for sure about what he thinks about us or what he is really up to considering some of the words that he used." Brandon answered a small smile forming on his face.

"Really I think he hates me, what you said earlier about him being difficult to please was true. Do you really think he was serious about having the two of us over when he went on leave?" Amara said as the two held hands watching as the sun went out of view.

"Well," Brandon stated thinking deeply about their conversation, "I don't think that he hates you, but its clears he has something against you. I'm sorry about the way he acted Amara, but until he adjusts his attitude I wouldn't worry about visiting okay; I don't think I'll be paying him a visit during Christmas anyway."

"It wasn't your fault; you take things that you can't control way to seriously. You can't control his actions you know, but he is kind of scary or rather intimidating," Amara responded as she caresses his face.

Brandon closed his eyes as Amara's hand gently caressed his face, he was surprised that she had taken this well. Brandon reached around hugging Amara as his mind raced.

"Don't let him scare you; he's a good person for the most part. He has to carry himself that way, when you get promoted that far up some paranoid tendencies are necessary to survive. He is the number two man in the marines and in a year he will probably be promoted to Commandant." Brandon said as the two stood there outside the mansion.

"So it is because of the responsibilities that he has that he acts that way towards people," Amara commented as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"Yeah but don't worry, deep down beneath all that paranoid thinking and military training is someone we can count on to look out for us at least for the moment any way." Brandon said as the two headed inside the mansion.

'At least I hope so, I'm not for sure what he is up to but at least with this new military id I should be able to communicate with him unnoticed from now on. He is up to something, no way he would give me classified information just like that unless he was, my grandfather is loyal to only three things God, the United States, and the Marine Corp. I am kind of curious that Logan is no where to be found today, you would think he would be here.' Brandon thought as Amara walked with him back inside the mansion.

In a dark corner of a bar on the city limits Logan waited rather impatiently for someone to show themselves. Taking in a drink of the draft that he had ordered, a man disturbed Logan from his thinking.

"Sir I believe you would be interested in something I have to sell you, why don't you come around back and we will talk price." The man stated his hands clearly motioning towards a prostitute.

"Whatever bub," Logan growled as he followed the man to a dark spot behind the bar.

Both men searched the area quickly making sure that no one else was around before continuing their conversation. The man immediately pulled out a computer disk and handed it to Logan as he turned to leave.

"The boss wanted me to tell you that information on General Ayers wasn't easy to get. The guy is basically a month or so away from being promoted contrary to popular belief, but he does want to know why you are so interested in him?" the man asked stopping before he left hoping to hear an explanation from Logan.

"That's none of Fury's damn business, or yours," Logan barked as he walked around front getting on his motorcycle speeding off to return to the institute.

Next chapter: Fading Light

The master begins moving towards the first stage of his plan, contacting a new ally to help in his future plans. Dani meanwhile has her own problems when the master sends a certain mercenary to recapture her, but someone else also seems to have arrived for her.


	14. Fading Light

**AN: Another chapter, sorry for the delay I haven't been feeling very well. Please continue to read and review the fic and also I am sorry if a certain character didn't come off as well as planned. **

Reaper walked the halls of his master's base with ease things had been going exactly according to the master's plan and the first phase was nearing its starting date. The Brotherhood or what was left of them mindlessly followed Reaper as he entered the master's chambers bowing at the presence of the man. The room was pitch dark with the exception of two well lit computer screens and bare with the exception of what appeared to be a throne for the master.

"Master everything has gone according to schedule with few exceptions, I am sad to report that the one known as Dani Moonstar was freed. If you desire it I will head out to recapture her immediately." Reaper stated being humble as possible towards his master not wishing to be punished for the failure of her escape.

"I've already contacted someone and he will be dealing with Moonstar. She is an important part of my plans, besides she isn't a necessity the plan can continue with out her, and I can't afford to send you out at the moment. Not when I need you for something much more important, its time Charles Xavier received a warning for his pathetic attempt to side track my plans. I will not allow his demolition of my facility to go unanswered." The master commented his voice full of venom towards the beliefs that Xavier held.

"Master would you like me to drain the pathetic insect, or perhaps do some creative disemboweling. I find either very pleasurable," Reaper commented a sadistic grin on his face as he spoke.

"Not yet Reaper first I will warn Charles and if he fails to comply then you may do whatever you wish to him. I require obedience from him and his pupils, however there is an ample opportunity that we shall not waste here. The new improved Brotherhood need to be tested on the battlefield and I can think of no better opponent than Xavier's precious X-Men. This is just a test Reaper; I will hold you responsible if anyone on either side dies. I want them alive for the time being, so they can witness the hell that I will unleash upon this world and all others. They will be granted the chance to serve me as you do," The Master replied as he lifted his right hand bringing a computer screen to life full of information on the institute.

Reaper turned when the door to the chamber opened revealing Kincaid and another man. This man was hidden at first but wore a fine white business suit and walked with what appeared to be a cane.

'This human is different he has power, but he attempts to conceal it. Interesting this human is he is clearly no insect I wonder what role the master has in store for him.' Reaper thought as the master looked down at Kincaid and the visitor.

"Ah Mister Fisk I see that you have finally arrived, it is very good to see you again. I assume that your arrival means that you will be able to supply me with all of material that I need for this project." The master stated his eyes glowing a bright red color at the sight of Wilson Fisk.

"So long as you keep your part of the bargain then I have no problem keeping my side of the bargain. In fact my men already have the first shipment here," Fisk responded his voice deep and seemingly enough unafraid of the man who called himself only Master.

"Excellent, I assume you have already sent some one after the girl, she is very important to my plans. I can't afford to have her be misplaced or injured you did make that clear didn't you, however failure while normally unacceptable is permissible at this stage of my plan," the Master commented as Fisk merely nodded his head.

"I hired the absolute best person for the job considering that you wanted her alive. It took a little more than expected to get him to work for us, but I believe you will be pleased with the results. Now if I could have my first payment I'll begin the exchange," Fisk bellowed as the Master waved his hands causing a servant to step forward handing Fisk a computer disc.

Fisk looked over the data disc smiling; he had finally gotten something that would put his enemies out of business. A sadistic grin on his face Fisk smiled as he turned back to face the Master and his other servants.

"Master a thousand pardons for interrupting you, but what about Magneto. We can't track him, so we have no idea where to send our new model of sentinel HS-97. He can not be allowed to remain at large," Kincaid spoke his voice deeply afraid from being punished.

'Kincaid speaks the truth so long as Henry, Xavier, and Magneto remain in play my plan runs a small risk of failure. Henry for the time being has been mitigated with the military being in chaos, and Xavier isn't much of a threat but Magneto is the most pertinent threat at the moment. Even with my two spies amongst the remainder of Magneto's Acolytes, Magneto through sheer force could halt my plans. The man has power, but his ideas of homo superior and his pride are his greatest weakness. Strike at his pride and you have nothing more than a wounded fool, who hides from the world like he did after being embarrassed by Apocalypse.' The Master thought as ideas flooded his head regarding Magneto and locating him.

"I have a mission for you Kincaid and your new mutant hunters' army platoon called the Headhunters. I want you to bring me a mutant known as Caliban from the sewers of Bayville. He can't track Magneto but he can track his pathetic offspring, Pietro, and his daughter has used this to her advantage once before. Once we know where Pietro is we can be certain that Magneto wont be to far behind. In fact I am certain another ally of ours might make them self useful in that category but for now Kincaid bring me Caliban, he will have other uses besides tracking down Magneto," the Master bellowed as Fisk and Reaper watched the army general start to leave the room.

"Of course Master, I will capture this mutant for you, if you would excuse me. I must make preparations for this new operation, if intelligence reports are accurate there are many mutants hiding in those sewers." Kincaid stated as he left the room quickly leaving the other two men alone with the master.

Reaper glared at Kincaid as he left the room, it was a matter of a growing dislike between the two. Reaper turned his attention back to his master attempting to put Kincaid at further risk.

"Master is it wise sending Kincaid out to handle such an assignment, he has failed so far?" Reaper asked trying to determine Kincaid's usefulness to the Master.

'The master is trusting Kincaid with another assignment he has already failed in two out of three. He was suppose to secure the girl until she could be moved and get the new facility to full operation. He failed at both, and his only success comes from the fact that we did receive all of that inside intelligence from him. Either way if Kincaid fails this time, he should be eliminated.' Reaper thought as the Master thought over his proposal.

"Hmm you are quite right on that matter Reaper, if he fails this time you may punish him. However, Kincaid is the type of person that lets nothing stand in the way of his goals not even morals, so I believe I will keep him, he does after all deliver to us control of many army units. It is after all hard to find good help there days, wouldn't you agree Mr. Fisk?' was all Reaper heard as the Master's voice bellowed through the room.

"Yes I believe you are right, if you would excuse me I do have other business to conclude. It seems a certain menace, calling himself Spider-Man has been causing a few problems on my end; he must be dealt with severely to put down any other people desiring to become heroes like him." Fisk answered as he turned to leave the room.

"If he becomes too much of a problem for you fat one, let me know I'm sure the Master will allow me to remove this spiders head." Reaper commented as Wisk ignored the comments as he stopped close to the door so he could hear the other man talk to him.

"Yes it is ironic that these pathetic humans even today still look for heroes to save them, when in reality the heroes can do little more than halt the inevitable. They refuse to take action only waiting for someone else to save their pathetic lives. I will be meeting with you again very soon Fisk so we can discuss our future plans for New York." The Master spoke as Fisk waved his hand at him leaving the room.

'Fisk has his uses, such as providing the material that I require without attracting the attention of the government. What use is it to have classified technology if you can't build it, and he gives me the material necessary to do so. I may have to eliminate this Spider-Man if he begins to trouble my shipments.' The Master thought as he looked over to Reaper, his most loyal servant.

"Such insolence, say the word Master and I will disembowel that fat bastard here and now." Reaper commented, knowing that Fisk could not hear him nor do anything to stop his comments.

"Worry not my Reaper; he has his uses just like every pawn does. In the end he may be sacrificed to further my plans, but only when he runs out of uses. We are both using each other to further our own goals; unlike most Fisk grabs power it's an admirable trait." The Master commented as Reaper looked up at his Master.

Reaper watched as his master slowly descended down towards him, stopping to look over the Brotherhood before standing in front of Reaper. The Master smiled as Reaper bowed before him and the Brotherhood slowly bowed before him following in Reaper's motions.

"Excellent their training was well received as well as the mind altering and controlling drugs. You may begin your mission at your discretion Reaper, but remember the rules of this engagement. If anyone dies, you will join them very shortly after returning." The Master barked as Reaper stayed in his bowing position.

"Master if I should engage the insect known as Ayers, what should I do about him? He most certainly is there at the institute since the surveillance footage shows him leading a team into our destroyed facility. What are your orders regarding him; he isn't one of Xavier's students? He is one of those other insect types, I think they call themselves marines," Reaper asked his voice dripping with enthusiasm for a rematch with the man.

"Hmm," the Master started his mind whirling with possibilities, "I want you to test his power Reaper, see how far the young Ayers mutant has come. After all he has a certain role to play as well, make sure that he remembers well the pain that you inflicted on him and his brethren at NRI. I want to see how strong he has become now, but make sure to leave him alive so he can be humiliated once more."

'To humiliate and break an enemy is much more enjoyable than just killing them. Make them feel powerless, strip away their hope, and then when they can handle no more eliminate them if they still won't serve you. Henry's grandson has already been humiliated once, I wonder how he will fare against Reaper this time. Can a mutant that has evolved normally stand a chance against Reaper, who has had more than a few modifications over the years? I will watch this battle carefully and with much interest. ' the Master thought as he looked over the Brotherhood and Reaper.

"Of course Master if you would excuse me, I want to have some fun before I leave to deal with your message to Xavier. I will be certain to let him know that his interference will no longer be tolerated by you," Reaper commented as he left the room the rest of the Brotherhood following him.

The computer screen in the room changed for a moment this time bringing up a picture of a new base the Master was constructing. The man took a seat on his throne as he watched his plans starting to begin.

'With the Brotherhood at my beck and call, the military weakened with infighting and the feeling of powerlessness against mutants, all that remains is to push the last few remaining elements into play and my plan shall lay the world at my feet. I should remember to reward Essex for his hard work in crafting those drugs for me, but I suppose the DNA of X-23 will have to suffice for his reward. My researchers are already working on something special for the DNA of hers and Scarlet Witch.' The Master thought as a servant entered the room giving him something to drink and eat before leaving quickly.

"Let the light fade away and give birth to the dark future that I have planned for this world." The Master bellowed laughing believing that the first part of his plan was fool proof.

'But first I want that girl the power to make your enemies nightmares come true, that is a power I must have. With such power I could break my enemies before the battle even begins, especially those that don't have mental barriers protecting them. A power like that would be very useful to me, but it isn't an absolute necessity for my plans. Just the icing on the cake,' the Master thought as he looked over a chess board that he kept in the room.

A picture of a Native American girl appeared on the screen as the Master smiled moving a piece of the chess set forward. He smiled as he took a drink of the fine wine that had been brought to him.

"I have made the second move, now all I must do is wait and see how much of my plan will succeed. Time means nothing to me but you my dear may help me expedite matters, but there are always other telepaths that may be more useful than you, ah how I enjoy all the knowledge that comes with the power I wield." the Master spoke quietly to himself as he rested his had against his shoulders.

**Black Hollow, NY**

Dani smiled as her grandfather rocked gently in his chair. A slight movement on her part seemingly woke the old man from his peaceful slumber as he slowly stood up from his chair.

"Granddaughter shouldn't you be resting, the ritual is over and you can go to the institute if you want to now." Black Eagle stated as Dani smiled at her grandfather's reaction.

"Really I can't wait to go; I miss Kitty and the others so much. I can have so much fun there, learn to control my abilities, and be safe from some really bad people. I don't want to be put through something like that again." Dani stated grinning as her grandfather just smiled at her response.

"Yes it is time for you to go there, the Great Spirit has said so, and soon it will no longer be safe here for you." Black Eagle responded as Dani smiled running to her room to pack her belongings.

'Ah the young are always thrilled to go to new places, I will miss my granddaughter deeply. She however needs to grow, and I no longer believe she is safe here. The world is shaking, the Great Spirit is concerned that the darkness is encompassing the world. I fear for my granddaughter's safety.' Black Eagle thought as Dani packed her belongings.

Looking outside Black Eagle could feel the wind change, someone was coming. Whoever this someone was he wasn't attempting to hide his arrival, his car was barreling down the deserted road that lead to the last occupied house. The house was surrounded by a nearly vacant field with a few empty houses, and in almost near isolation from everyone.

A man stepped out of the car wearing a trench coat covering his uniform, Deadpool took out a photograph looking down once again to memorize his target. Sliding the photo back into his pocket, he walked slowly up to the front door, not even caring that they had seen him arrive.

"Hey there old man, I'm here for the girl. Why don't you just give her up so I can go home and spend my well earned money?" Deadpool stated sarcasm dripping from his voice as Black Eagle stood up readying his old body for a fight.

"I will not allow my granddaughter to be captured by someone like you." Black Eagle stated as Deadpool seemed to shrug his shoulders.

"Oh come on old timer, I don't have time for this beside you are a little to old for this. I got a rule I don't fight anyone a day over 70 with the exception of a growling claw bearing lunatic." Deadpool quipped as far away someone watched through a pair of binoculars.

Deadpool easily knocked Black Eagle out, the old man falling prey to a tranquilizer dart. Searching the room, he took a seat kicking up his feet pulling out a beer to drink while waiting for Dani to enter the room.

About five minutes before hand a man with familiar red hair and a brown trench coat watched Deadpool carefully, adjusting the binoculars to see what type of weapons the mercenary was carrying noticing only a sword and what appeared to be a dart gun. The man hopped into his jeep picking through the wide variety of weapons that he carried in the back of the jeep. Picking up a heavily modified M40-A3 sniper rifle and holstering two custom made MEU SOC .45 pistols, the man moved on opening a box labeled grenades in big black letters. Placing a few flash bang grenades and regular grenades on his belt, the man pulled out an odd looking silver tube like device that looked more like a missile launcher than a gun. Label X-08 on the device he turned the device on before strapping it onto his back. The last addition was a Ka-bar knife that was commonly issued to all marines.

'I think I have enough weapons to deal with anything I should encounter, unless I want to burn down a few buildings but I've managed to do that without explosives any way. Well now the infamous mercenary Deadpool, well this is just great. I should have asked for hazardous duty pay when I agreed to do this, but then again I am doing this for free. Oh well too late now, and boy would someone be mad if I let her get captured now. Always wanted to know how I would fare against someone like him anyway, besides I still need to test the new toy I liberated from NRI. To think I thought this little reconnaissance mission would be boring,' He thought as he picked up one last box from the jeep that had been hidden by a camouflage covering to begin moving towards the house.

He stood up removing the camouflage covering and with a quick jumped hop off the jeep. Pulling out the binoculars once more the man looked through noticing Deadpool had entered the house, meaning that time was short before he finished his mission. Running quickly to Deadpool's car the man stopped near the car and pulling out the small device.

'Even I know that Deadpool can't be killed by anything I have on me so in order to best protect the people I need to move this battle outside; then again I'm not sure he can be killed. Damn SHIELD and there pathetic intelligence sharing routine, all I know is he heals really fast, even to the point that he can regenerate limbs and organs. I need to cause a big enough distraction to allow me to retrieve the girl and get the hell out of here. This will be one of my trump cards in case this experimental weapon fails.' The man thought as he set up a small device attaching it to the car that Deadpool had arrived in. Flipping the device on and checking the trigger mechanism he had on him the man headed straight for the front door, this was going to be a fight to remember.

Dani stopped packing for a moment hearing a loud thud from down the hall, stepping outside the dark tanned girl nearly freaked when she noticed her grandfather lying on the ground. An air sound later and Dani looked at her shoulder; she had been hit by a tranquilizer dart and fell to the ground joining her grandfather.

"Damn this was just way too easy, but I don't like attacking a little girl like this. Don't worry little girl that dart doesn't knock you out, it just stuns movement for a while," Deadpool spoke picking up the young girl slinging her body over his shoulder.

"No I don't…." Dani said weakly as Deadpool merely ignored her until he turned to leave the room noticing that someone in a brown cloak seemed to be blocking his path.

"Well now who do we have here a wannabe Lone Ranger or something? The costume convention is down the road and to the right in case you missed the sign," Deadpool joked as the man in the cloak didn't bother to move.

"The way I see it you have two choices you can put the girl down or I can make you put her down. To be honest I don't give a rat's ass one way or another, and either way we end up fighting each other. So why don't we go ahead and get this started," the man stated as he pulled down the hood revealing his face.

"Give me a damn break you better not be some kind of bounty hunter or something because I told the last guy to leave me alone after doing some redecorating of his face. I'm only trying to make a living," Deadpool quipped as his opponent pulled out a sniper rifle.

The two glared at each other until Deadpool finally put the girl down deciding that there was only one true way to deal with this situation. The two glared at each other until Deadpool using his lightening fast reflexes to pull his sword attempting to end it quickly only to discovered that he had been blocked by the sniper rifle causing a metallic clang to echo through the room.

"Well now you got some skills, this might be fun. I might actually have to kill something this time, I can't remember the last time I had to do that, but you do know a sniper rifle is useless at close range and against my healing abilities." Deadpool stated attempting to cause his opponent to make a mistake from his sardonic conversations.

"Really you don't say, well this one is a little different from usual sniper rifles. I spent some time customizing it, I'm not your normal fighter after all," The man responded pushing a button on the side causing an elongated bayonet to slide out from a part of the rifle.

The two went at Deadpool smiling the entire time as they attempted to hit each other only to block each others attack. Sensing a weakness Deadpool brought his sword in a slashing motion only to see the man jump back and fire off a round from the rifle.

'Hmm time for a new strategy, can't let him have her. He can heal I need to end this quickly otherwise I'll be worn out before I can get her out of here, he gets her, or in the worse case I end up dead.' The man thought as he pulled out his pistol with his right hand.

This time when Deadpool slashed with his sword as the rifle blocked it and with a quick flip of his wrist he fired four rounds into Deadpool's chest. Hearing a grunt the man nailed Deadpool with a quick kick to the head knowing that the rapidly healing man wouldn't be down for long. The man ran forward holstering his pistol and picking up Dani flinging her like a sack of potatoes over his left shoulder, the sniper rifle banging against her from a strap that had allowed the man to hold onto the weapon. Grabbing a pair of flash bang grenades and tossing them into the room, all Dani could do was watch as the man ran out with her over his shoulder.

"Why are you helping me?" Dani spoke weakly as the man continued to run with her over his shoulder heading for a jeep that was parked half a mile away.

"Sorry no time right now, I'll tell you later," the man stated as Deadpool ran out of the house heading after the two.

"He's still coming," Dani stated weakly as the man placed her carefully into the jeep.

"No worries kiddo, I made you a promise at that facility and Alan Fitzgerald doesn't break his promises. Even if it means I have to go one on one with the infamous merc with a mouth." Alan whispered to her as he turned to face Deadpool again.

'Oh yeah I keep my promises but even I know this is up there on one the most insane things I've ever done list. I got to say with the exception of that one mission in Iran, this is by far the most insane thing I've ever done. Not like I'm not trained to handle superior opponents, and I still have a few aces up my sleeve. Oh well any battle you can walk away from is a good one,' Alan thought as he glared at Deadpool checking his location in comparison to his little trap.

"I really didn't like those little toys of yours, and do you know how much it hurts to get shot. You are really pissing me off," Deadpool stated as Alan mentally counted the number of shots he had in both weapons.

'Let me see, I've fired six shots which means I have three remaining in the rifle and eleven in the pistol. Those wont buy us enough time and flash bangs clearly won't work this time, oh well I was hoping to save the good stuff but what the hell I got better things to do today than die.' Alan thought as he unlocked the safety device on the prototype weapon he was carrying.

"Hey from what I hear it's not like your looks are going to suffer, besides the red and black uniform is a real give away. Now I really got to run, I've got better things to do," Alan yelled as he pulled out the pistol firing at Deadpool only to have him block the shots with his sword.

"Just give me the little native girl and I might let you walk away. I'm late for a beer and to hit on a beautiful busty blonde at the bar," Deadpool taunted as Alan refused to even acknowledge him with an answer.

Alan ran forward firing a blast from his sniper rifle causing Deadpool to dodge to the right. Pulling out a small throwing knife Deadpool tossed at Alan causing him to use his rifle to deflect the knife. Using his free hand Alan fired the remaining shots from his first pistol holstering it when Deadpool managed to deflect them all. Alan pulled out his Ka-bar knife in his right hand causing Deadpool to stop for a moment.

Deadpool's eyes narrowed focusing on the knife that Alan was wielding causing a quick comment, "So you are a devil dog are you? It's been a while since I fought one of you guys."

"I see the infamous Deadpool is up to date on military weapons, but what makes you think that I'm one of these so called devil dogs." Alan taunted then with a quick motion attempted to throw the knife into Deadpool's right hand only to have the knife knocked away be Deadpool's sword.

Alan charged forward releasing a few kicks and punches which were all blocked by Deadpool as he used his rifle again to block the sword, causing a few pieces of it to fall to the ground. Deadpool let out a laugh as he kicked Alan away using his superior hand to hand skills to take advantage of the situation. Alan pushed himself away in a quick motion hitting Deadpool with a combination of moves and then trying for a quick kill only to realize that snapping Deadpool's neck would have been impossible. The two moved away from each other both sizing up their opponent.

"Well first your martial arts style is reminiscent of the Warrior Ethos system the marines use. Besides it would look bad if just any one could hang with me in a battle but I got to ask how much beer you have been drinking because you got to be out of your mind to take me on in a head to head battle." Deadpool taunted as he charged forward moving his sword in a slashing motion causing Alan to block it with his rifle and then pulling back away.

"I don't recall telling you if I was sane or not, but I have to admit I will be drinking a whole bottle of whiskey when I'm done here." Alan commented answering Deadpool's comment while charging forward attempting to hit him with the butt of his rifle only to end up blocking the sword.

Sparks flew as the sword scarped against the rifle finally causing a part of the rifle to break in some places. Pieces of the hilt, and the barrel fell to the ground causing Alan to use the body of the weapon to block the attack. Alan looked at Deadpool reaching for his final pistol attempting to even the odds.

"Damn," Alan yelled as he pushed himself back from Deadpool, "that was my favorite weapon."

Deadpool ran forward stabbing at Alan with his sword grazing the remaining piece of the rifle causing sparks to appear as the sword went through and penetrating the armor that Alan was wearing. Pulling out his sword, Deadpool followed it up with a quick slash to Alan's left shoulder causing more blood to fall to the ground as Alan struggled to stand.

"Aw did I break you already, right when you started to get interesting. Well guess I'll be getting out of here with the girl," Deadpool stated as Alan brought himself up on once knee.

"I don't think so, failure is not an option." Alan barked reaching for the prototype weapon that he was carrying with him.

Blood dripped from both wounds as Alan stood up slinging the prototype weapon into position and pushing himself back a few feet away from Deadpool. Pulling the modified trigger the weapon let out a loud bang when an energy blast shot forward emitting a bright green light hitting and sending Deadpool flying back towards Black Eagle's house.

"Damn I love new guns, but no time to brag about the effects. Its time to go, that blast wont keep Deadpool down," Alan commented as he moved quickly, ignoring the searing pain that his chest and shoulder had as he hopped in the jeep starting the engine and pulling out quickly before seeing Deadpool standing back up from the blast.

Alan pushed the pedal down driving away from Deadpool, but not before pushing the detonator that he carried with him causing another blast this time causing the car that Deadpool had arrived in to explode. Alan smiled as Deadpool looked at the burning hunk of metal that had landed in front of him as little pieces of metal appeared to be raining down from the sky.

"Oh shit my ride, that was a rental and I forgot to check and see if I have the destroyed by bomb insurance coverage. Damn that's going to cost me not to mention my damn paycheck from catching the girl," Deadpool yelled as the jeep drove off leaving him there with a person who wasn't his target.

Alan meanwhile gunned the jeep driving at insane speeds down a dirt road as Dani finally managed to regain control of her movements. Looking back she could no longer see her house just a black cloud of smoke from an explosion.

"We have to go back my grandfather that man might…" Dani stated as the man driving the jeep shook his head no.

'I don't have time to go back, if I could I would but your safety is paramount. Oh yeah and there is the little bleeding problem that I'm currently having after barely surviving one of the worlds craziest mercenaries. Brandon's still not going to be happy about leaving the old man behind, but I didn't have much choice in the matter. The girl here is important, why would you catch her to test a sentinel? The answer is you wouldn't use a mutant with telepathic abilities like hers because they can only affect the mind not metal, which means she has another role to play. That means she was the priority target and Brandon will understand that but he won't be happy.' Alan thought as he turned his head towards her noticing Dani staring at him.

"Okay look I'm not happy about leaving someone behind but he wasn't the target so he will be fine; Deadpool only kills as a last resort which is why he was sent to catch you and not a real killing mercenary like Gauntlet or Bullseye. Your grandfather is fine and believe me I didn't use nearly enough explosives on the car just in case Deadpool left something nice in there." Alan stated covering his wound with his left hand as he drove the blood causing a dark stain to appear on his uniform.

Dani shook her head finally regaining her full range of movement. Grabbing Alan's right arm she tried to get him to turn back towards her house. Alan stared at the girl considering grabbing a pair of handcuffs to restrain her but stopped continuing to drive further away.

"Please we have to go back I can't leave him…" Dani pleaded as Alan looked at her cautiously shaking his head no.

"Look he's just fine so drop it kid, I can't turn around because we don't have time. Think about it your grandfather wanted you to be safe, once I get you to the institute you can have the adults there check in on your grandfather." Alan stated his vision blurring a little as he pushed the gas pedal all the way to the floorboard.

'To think the only reason I came here was a tip from one my CIA contacts that Kincaid had contracted a mercenary to catch the girl. Next time ask for specifics namely which damn mercenary, so I can get back up next time. I was successful but only because he didn't expect me to be here, which explains the light arsenal the man was carrying. Oh man my vision is blurring I'm losing to much blood from those wounds, they must be a lot worse than it looks," Alan thought as he shook his head attempting to shake himself back to normal.

Dani stared at him considering an attempt to read his thoughts but deciding against it, "Fine you win but as soon as we get to the institute I want to know if my grandfather is okay."

Dani looked at him carefully staring at him in shock when she realized who it was. Her thoughts immediately went back to the sentinel facility to the image of a red headed soldier that appeared before her attempting to break the four of them out only to be forced away by an incoming security team, 'He was at that facility, in between the drugs they gave us he appeared and said he would get us out of there. He tried but couldn't so he said that he was going to get help, he promised to be back, why is he helping me?'

"You were at that test facility weren't you? You promised that things would be fine and you would go get help, who are you? Why are you helping me?" Dani questioned as the man pushed the pedal down to go faster; they were now traveling at a speed of 80 mph.

'I'm sorry kid but right now I got more important things to do. I can't play fifty questions with Alan right now because I'm about to pass out.' Alan thought as he released some of the pressure on the pedal.

"No time for that right now, you ever drive a car before kid?" Alan asked as the girl nodded in response, "good you take over and drive we have enough fuel to get us to the Xavier Institute. I need to handle something just keep your eyes straight and on the road. Do not look back here understand,"

Alan stopped the jeep gently climbing into the back as Dani started to drive the jeep following the instructions she heard from the back carefully. Tilting the mirror of the jeep so she could see what was happening she watched as he removed his armor and the shirt under it revealing a nasty wound. Alan reached into the back pulling out a first aid kit and beginning to go to work when he heard a gasp from Dani.

"Keep your eyes straight and on the damn road or you are going to kill both of us. I'm not Deadpool or Weapon X I bleed and I don't heal fast like they do. I still have a promise to keep so you better not get me killed after everything I just went through," Alan barked his irritation showing as the girl pushed the pedal down to move the jeep faster.

Dani watched as the man seemed to work on his own injury as she drove down the road finally arriving at the institute after driving for about twenty minutes. She looked as Alan reached over punching in a numerical code into the device near the gate causing the security to deactivate and the gate to open for the moment. Dani pushed the gas pedal gently as they pulled into the institute the gate snapping shut as they went.

"You never answered my questions, why did you help me?" Dani asked as Alan looked at her.

Alan didn't answer her as she pulled up to the door as a group of people gathered at the door. Alan smiled as Brandon stepped out the front door with Piotr close by the two of them laughing until Brandon noticed Alan.

"Hey boss sorry about the unannounced arrival but I have a friend of yours to drop off. She ran into a little trouble with a very sardonic and crazed mercenary, so you might want to get her inside." Alan barked as Kitty ran forward hugging Dani.

"Dani it's like so good to see you again, you are here to stay this time right?" Kitty screamed happy to see her friend as Brandon and Alan both covered their ears.

"Of course, but…" Dani stated as the students led her inside Kitty literally dragging her to meet the adults.

Brandon and Piotr turned around to see Alan smiling some before he turned around to go back to his jeep. Alan's eyes got wide as he stopped moving and turned his head back to Brandon.

"Hey Brandon I hope you have one hell of a doc here because I…" Alan started before collapsing before the two men.

Brandon watched in horror as his friend fell down blood pouring out of his injury while Piotr ran inside getting Kurt. Brandon pulled Alan's hand up checking his pulse as Kurt ran into view with Piotr.

"Kurt, get us to the infirmary now," Brandon bellowed as Kurt grabbed the two.

"Ja ich verstehe," Kurt answered flabbergasted at the sight of the injured man as the three of them disappeared in a cloud of sulfur and reappeared in the infirmary.

The sudden arrival of the three stunned Dr. McCoy as Brandon, Alan, and Kurt appeared in the infirmary. Dr. McCoy looked at the blood on Alan and immediately motioned for Alan to be placed on an empty stretcher.

"I'm sorry Brandon and Kurt but you have to leave now, this is going to take a while." Dr. McCoy stated as he wheeled over some medical instruments and pressed a button summoning Ororo and the Professor to the infirmary.

Kurt touched Brandon shoulder teleporting the two upstairs as Brandon stared at his friend. The two were teleported into the living room, right into the middle of the others causing them all to turn looking at the two. Brandon appeared very discontent his eyes relaying a mixture of emotion, as he started to walk away from everyone with a blank expression on his face. Scott and Jean both looked at Brandon curiously neither one having seen Brandon this way before.

"Brandon is something wrong?" Scott asked with concern for his friend as the two approached him Brandon just ignored the comment without even moving.

Jean waved her hand in front of Brandon's face not even getting a response from the marine, " Are you okay," she asked worried as Brandon walked off not even responding to the two.

Everyone looked on in shock as Brandon walked off in anger; he never ignored people, looking at Kurt for an answer. The blue haired demon like mutant looked as everyone starred at him hoping that Kurt could provide answers.

"Vell," Kurt started his German accent coming through, "Alan was apparently wounded, it doesn't look good for him, and I've never seen that much blood before."

"Da, he came back injured from his last mission. Apparently he would have left if he didn't collapse before he could get back in his jeep," Piotr commented as everyone watched Brandon stomped down the hall heading towards the gym.

"Ah man, this sucks; he was one of the good guys. One of the few humans that were actually on our side, he was so cool." Jaime commented as the others nodded in agreement.

"I owe that guy, when we trapped he told us he would be back with help. He didn't lie either, he disappeared and brought all of you back with him." Noriko added unsure if her English had been correct.

"I'm sure he will be just fine, I mean think about it if he can survive being on the run from the Juggernaught surely he can survive this." Tabby stated as everyone bowed their head slightly, despite the remodeled institute the students could all hear Brandon shouting a few obscenities as he nailed a punching bag.

'Brandon has another injured friend maybe seriously this time; every time he seems to start to become happy something else comes to take the wind out of his sails. I hope Alan is okay, if he isn't Brandon might not take it very well.' Amara thought as she remained quiet noticing the others all talking about Alan's arrival.

Everyone looked at each other as Scott and Jean held each other. The others looked at each other unsure of how to handle the situation, and absolutely no one wanted to go talk with Brandon while he was hitting the punching bags.

"Hey Dani do you know who the guy was that tried to grab you?" Scott asked as Logan walked past the students and headed towards the gym where Brandon was releasing some anger.

"I don't know that guy it was the first time I'm seen him before, Alan he said it was a guy named Deadpool." Dani answered as Logan seemed to immediately stop growling loudly at the mention of Deadpool.

"Wilson," Logan growled in a low whisper uninterested with the rest of the conversation.

"I'm so sorry that he got hurt, I didn't even know he was there until the two started fighting each other. If it wasn't for him though, I don't want to think of what would have happened to me. How did he know I needed help? Why was he there? Why does he keep trying to help even though he isn't like us?" Dani questioned a little intimidated and very upset by the events that had occurred at her grandfather's house.

"Its okay like it wasn't your fault that guy came after you." Kitty replied as Dani shook her head slightly a few tears in her eyes causing Kitty to give her friend a quick hug.

"Well," Logan bellowed, "you should consider yourself fortunate to be here. Also until further notice you'll be traveling in groups of four or more, until we determine if Deadpool is still hunting for the dreamer here."

Everyone looked around at each other; none of them knew why Alan seemed to put his own life on the line to help them. Amara and Piotr shared a stare the two were the closest people to Brandon and they didn't know why Alan so loyally followed Brandon.

"We don't know why Alan does the things that he does, only that he and Brandon our very old and close friends. When he wakes up though we can ask him," Jean commented as everyone nodded wondering why the mysterious man seemed to obey Brandon whole heartedly.

"The only thing we do know is that he is willing to follow Brandon without question. He doesn't care about sides or the Professor's ideology or anyone else's ideology. The only reason he seems to help us is because Brandon is here and he will follow him no matter what." Scott answered kind of curious of the reasons why Alan seemed to be so loyal to Brandon.

Piotr watched as Logan turned to enter the room only to run right into a very sweaty Brandon. Moving to one side Brandon slid past Logan without saying a word heading straight for the elevator.

'This doesn't bode well for my comrade; he has lost a lot of friends I hope Alan will survive. Brandon told me that Alan is a superior marine, he is the elite of the elite from what he has said, and that means with such superior training he has to survive.' Piotr thought as he walked over to Brandon joining him.

"I think I will accompany you comrade, I may not know Alan very well but he did risk himself to help us. That makes him a comrade as far as I am concerned." Piotr stated as Brandon merely nodded his head.

'I don't care if it takes all week; I'm not leaving the sub basement until I hear Alan is going to be okay. This is my fault if I hadn't asked him to look into that for me he wouldn't be in this condition.' Brandon thought as Amara walked up to him placing her hand on Brandon's shoulder.

Dr. McCoy took in a deep breath as he washed his fur covered hands carefully, with some help from the Professor he had managed to stop the bleeding, now all that remained was to stitch him up and make sure there was no internal bleeding. Alan was sitting there peacefully for the moment anesthesia being applied to keep him comfortable until the procedures had ended. The next few hours would be critical in determining if Alan would survive or not from the injuries he received from Deadpool's sword.

'Damn Brandon I'm sorry, I'll do better next time. I…' Alan thought as the anesthesia Doctor McCoy used finally seemed to take affect causing the man to eventually fall asleep.

Next Chapter: Semper Fidelis

Alan has been critically injured from his battle with Deadpool, and many people at the institute Dani and Logan included want to talk to him. Brandon attempts new things to keep his mind occupied and prepares a nice surprise for Amara when he learns something interesting from Tabby.


	15. Semper Fidelis

AN: Keep on reviewing everyone; I look forward to hearing from everyone that reads my fic. I look forward to hearing from everyone, also if there are some characters you would like to see later on let me know. I have a few ideas, but I'm very interested in what everyone else thinks.

Brandon Ayers paced in the metallic hallway waiting for any sign of whether his friend would recover from injuries. Next to the pacing marine sat two people who had eventually fallen asleep but had stayed next to their friend despite his protest otherwise. The pacing stopped when an exhausted Dr. McCoy stepped out a small grin on his face.

"Well Alan is going to make it, the injuries were only superficial and the main problem was a loss of blood. It could take a while for him to heal, at least a week or two at best and a month at worst." Dr. McCoy stated as Brandon had a huge smile on his face actually jumping up and yelling to celebrate the good news.

Brandon looked at Amara and with a smile rapidly asking Dr. McCoy a couple of questions, "Can I see him now? Is he awake so I can at least talk to him some?"

"Yes he's awake but try not to talk to him very long your friend needs to rest," Dr. McCoy answered barely able to finished before Brandon had left the hallway and entered the infirmary.

Amara and Piotr both woke up afterwards from Brandon's uncharacteristic celebration. The two looked on as he entered the infirmary following him as Dr. McCoy went inside with them taking a well deserved rest on a cot he kept in the room.

"I would ask you how you felt but you look like shit so there is no point in asking." Brandon joked as Alan laughed a little before grabbing his side.

"Bah if I knew that your ugly mug would greet me when I woke up, I would have kept on sleeping." Alan taunted back as the two started to laugh, causing Amara and Piotr to stare at the two.

Alan looked at the two friends that had accompanied his friends, grinning slightly a plan started to form in Alan's head. Alan grunted as he sat up some causing Amara and Brandon both to step forward and adjust the man's pillow so he could sit up.

"Now what do we have here," Alan started as he sat up cautiously, "it seems I kept some other people up as well. Guess one of you is a really good friend of Brandon and the other would be his favorite princess."

"You might want to lay off the royalty remarks Alan; she's a lot tougher than she looks. Besides you aren't exactly in the shape to escape if she does decide to do something," Brandon stated as Alan nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm glad you are feeling better comrade," Piotr stated softly as he stepped forward offering to shake hands with Alan resulting in a quick hand shake between the two.

"Me too, and as much as I look forward to talking to you, I think that we should all let you get some rest." Amara stated as Brandon nodded his head understanding what she was saying.

"In a minute, I need to talk to Alan alone, please wait for me outside okay this won't take long." Brandon requested as his two friends nodded in agreement.

The two looked at each as the others left the room. He had bandages across his chest and one that seemed to be wrapped around his left shoulder.

"I hate to do this to you now but I need a sit-rep Alan, what happened?" Brandon asked his friend nodding his head in agreement.

Alan took another drink of water answering with his usual tone, "I received a tip from one of my informants that Kincaid had gone through a man known as Kingpin to hire a mercenary that's mission would be to capture Danielle Moonstar. I moved to intercept thinking I would be dealing with some Cossacks or ex military. I ended up fighting Deadpool, I would have called for reinforcements but there wasn't enough time."

"I see, good job I appreciate the fact that you managed to rescue her despite the odds. I guess that is why you are the best huh?" Brandon stated teasing his friend a little as Alan started to laugh.

"Yep that battle was a hell of fight, any longer and you would be a friend short. Hey do me a favor and get me a bottle of whiskey, I need to celebrate my greatness." Alan barked as Brandon merely nodded his head.

"Hey Brandon there is something else, I don't think Dani was meant for the sentinel training program. The question is, why capture her and for what purpose, not even I can answer that," Alan added as the two looked at each other.

"Good questions, damn I wish we knew more about this situation. Well I think I'll let you get some rest, I'll stop by later." Brandon replied as Alan took in another sip of water.

"Hey Brandon before you go could you refill the water and there is one last thing. How is your relationship with the princess going?" Alan requested as Brandon picked up the bottle and walked over to the sink.

Brandon turned on the sink using the cold water that came out to fill up Alan's water bottle. Looking over at a mirror Brandon laughed a little at himself, he needed to get a haircut. His hair had gone from the usual military buzz cut to what he considered a large amount of curly black hair. Walking back over to Alan, he set the bottle of water next to his friend.

"Well," Brandon started as he handed his friend the bottle of water, "I think it is going very well. I've never felt like this before, it's a rush to be honest with you."

Alan grunted a little as he smiled responding to Brandon's comments, "Really that wasn't what I meant, I was wondering if the two of you have…"

Brandon shook his head in disgust knowing exactly where Alan was heading in the conversation. Noticing that he had been there more than a short time Brandon started to move for the door.

"I'll talk with you more as soon as I finish my work around here, but I don't think you need to know that," Brandon added being a very private person regarding his personal life.

"Yeah we do need to talk about this relationship, I want details. Come see me later on, and bring the princess with you, maybe she will be more open to discussing this relationship." Alan remarked as he started to nod off taking a well deserved nap, as his friend left the room rejoining Piotr and Amara.

"Well how about we go get some breakfast, I think we could all use some food wouldn't you agree comrade?" Piotr asked as Brandon nodded, he was getting hungry now that the word food had been mentioned.

"Yep, I appreciate you two staying with me while Alan was out. You didn't have to do that, you both could have stayed upstairs I would have understood that." Brandon said as the three of them entered the elevator.

"Don't worry about it comrade, you would do the same if it was any of us." Piotr answered as the three exited the elevator and headed for the kitchen.

Amara smiled as she walked close to him whispering, "I don't mind so long as I get to be with you."

Amara merely grinned, giving Brandon a small kiss on the cheek as encouragement. The two seemed to gaze at each other as Piotr went through the fridge pulling out some milk. It only took a few moments to prepare a bowl of cereal for each of them as the three sat down enjoying a quiet breakfast.

'I wonder where everyone one is, wait isn't it Friday. School started up so Amara and the others should be getting ready for school. I know she doesn't like school but neither did when I was in high school.' Brandon thought as he looked over at the clock seeing that it was about a quarter until seven.

"Amara isn't today a school day, you better go get ready. I don't think the Professor would approve of you missing class just because of me. Besides the sooner you get there, the sooner you get back here," Brandon commented as Amara pouted at the idea of going to school.

"I hate it when you are right about something like this. I hate going to that school though, but I better get ready for school. Can I use your shower, Tabby normally has the shower at this time and I wont be ready in time if I don't," Amara pleaded giving Brandon a pouting look instantly causing the marine to respond.

"Uh sure, I don't mind whatever you need to get ready on time. I got plenty to do to keep me occupied." Brandon stated as he leaned over kissing Amara before she ran off to get ready for school.

"Comrade I believe that you are what they would call whipped here," Piotr stated attempting to make a joke about the relationship the two had.

Brandon took another bite of his cereal nearly spitting it out when he heard the joke Piotr made. After barely swallowing his food, Brandon looked at his friend laughing a little at the comment.

"Well I guess the man that is wrapped around Kitty's fingers has a lot of room to talk." Brandon teased back the two laughing a little about their relationships.

The two sat there quietly finishing their food, the others had already eaten and were either getting ready for school or in some cases getting ready for a college class. Brandon picked up his bowl and the bowl that Amara had left carefully placing them in the dishwasher.

"Now that I think about it Piotr what should we do today, with the others gone we have a lot of free time on our hands. I'm kind of looking forward to some peaceful time to train without being interrupted by something." Brandon said as he leaned back a little, looking to see what the weather was outside only to notice that it was starting to rain.

"Well comrade I was hoping to get in some time for my paintings today. I do have something else to do though, I don't have much money but I need to go get Katya a present." Piotr responded as he put his own dish in the dishwasher as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

'A present huh, well I don't know how easy it is to shop for a girl that spends almost all of her free time patrolling the mall. Jubilee and Kitty spend more time in the mall than I spent at the firing range when I was in the marines. Wait a minute, present is normally a holiday or oh no a birthday. I have no idea when Amara's birthday is if I missed it I'm going to find a way to re enlist, I would rather fight a war than face an angry girlfriend because you forgot her birthday. I still remember the colonel that had to sleep in his office because he forgot his wife's birthday for three weeks. It would be even worse with Amara; you just don't piss off a person that can turn into a fiery form, control lava, or magma. She'll melt me even if she didn't tell me the date, granted I don't intent to give them my birthday. I don't want a party,' Brandon thought as the two walked down the halls stopping when that last thought when it entered Brandon's head.

"Uh Piotr you wouldn't happen to know when Amara's birthday is would you? The two of us have talked a lot but I don't think that either of our birthdays has come up in the conversations. Mostly it's been well…" Brandon replied as a very large grin appeared on his face thinking about all of the making out the two had been doing lately.

Piotr looked at the unusual grin that was on his friends face only commenting when he remembered something that Kitty had given him, "Sure comrade I have a calendar in my room that has all of the birthdays of everyone here written down."

Brandon nodded as the two walked along the hall and finally turning to head up stairs. Brandon looked at the suit of armor that the Professor has set up in the hall before moving down the hall for Piotr's room.

'Alan's arrival is a good thing despite the fact he arrived injured. I still haven't located a spy and I've nearly eliminated everyone from the suspect list which means I might be dealing with a listening device or another spy type device. Who better to determine if we have a listening device or a spy than someone who is an expert in these types of problems? I'll have to wait until he's healed some but that suit of armor reminds me that we have to keep our guard up.' Brandon thought as Piotr opened the door to his room, motioning Brandon to enter first.

"You know what Piotr, I've never really given art a try but why don't I give it a try with you today. Never know I might actually be good at it, you never know until you try, besides missing one day of training wont kill me," Brandon commented as Piotr smiled setting up his art material while using his left hand to point to a calendar on the wall.

Brandon thumbed through two pages of the calendar finding Amara's birthday on the wall. 'I have seven months until her 19th birthday which means I don't need to go shopping for her birthday at the moment. I wonder what you get a princess, who probably has everything back home. I got to say though if someone's birthday is coming up, I hope they don't throw a huge party. I never went to many parties, my own birthday parties were very formal and effectively executed according to my grandfather.' Brandon thought his memory bringing back some pleasant memories about his past birthdays.

"Comrade, are you certain that you are willing to give this a try? It is hard to learn sometimes you must have a natural innate talent for such things or at least I think that is how you would say it in English," Piotr asked as Brandon nodded pulling up a chair and taking a seat as Piotr started to teach him how to paint.

Brandon tried to mimic Piotr's holding a paint brush, attempting to learn how to paint by mimicking Piotr. Moving the brush down the piece of paper Brandon laughed slightly as he couldn't quite get it right making the painting off. Laughing at his mistake, Brandon tried again to get the painting just right as Piotr continued to work on his painting.

"Comrade, when is your birthday by the way?" Piotr asked as Brandon dropped his paint brush causing a black line to appear all over the picture he was painting.

"Huh," Brandon muttered trying to keep his voice down, "I turn 21 in about three months."

While Brandon was trying to paint, Danielle Moonstar walked down the hallway pushing a button to head down the elevator. Dani's thoughts were full of conflicts; she had managed to find out that her grandfather was just fine thanks to a phone call. Her thoughts now focused on a mysterious man that seemed to remain a mystery to nearly everyone.

The elevator headed down to the subbasement as Dani thought about the man that helped her, 'I don't understand anything about this, and it is so confusing how he knew that I needed help. I'm very glad to be here with Kitty and the others but why did he help me. I have to know why.'

Dani walked off the elevator her clothes a little tighter than she would have preferred. Since she lacked the time to grab her belongings, she had been forced to borrow clothes from Kitty which she was a little smaller than the Native American girl. Opening the door to the infirmary, she walked in noticing the man staring at the wall his eyes seemingly moving counting the tiles on ceiling until he bowed his head slightly noticing the girl.

"Well if it isn't the little Indian girl, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Sorry if I am a little mean, but I don't like being stuck here in this infirmary." Alan commented explaining why he was irritated at the moment.

Dani walked over to him taking a seat in the chair next to him, "Why did you come help me? Please tell me why you were there, why you came to help me?"

"Wow, I don't get a how are you feeling or thank you for saving me. Well at least you are direct and to the point." Alan commented a little sarcasm in his voice before coughing a little.

Alan coughed a little grabbing a bottle of water that was placed next to his bed. Taking a sip of the water Alan smiled a little as he relaxed some more.

"That's easy I was there because I received intelligence from a contact, as for helping you Brandon wouldn't have been pleased if I allowed you to get captured again. Besides I kind of owed you a rescue because I failed to get you four out at the sentinel facility." Alan answered not even phased by the small amount of disappointment that appeared on Dani's face.

"You did all that for Brandon but why? Why do you so loyally follow him like a puppy almost?" Dani questioned considering probing his mind with her telepathy, still confused as to the reason why the man seemed to follow Brandon without question.

'Following Brandon like a puppy huh, I guess that is a good term for being so loyal to him. Dogs are after all very loyal to their masters, and I suppose in a way my only loyalty these days is to Brandon. He is the closest thing I have to family, the last friend I have left now that Johnson has been killed in action.' Alan thought his mind racing some thinking about what Dani had said.

Alan took another drink of water before answering her, "I follow Brandon because he is a marine, and we both took the same oath. My reasons for being so loyal to the man are my own, but he has always displayed the same loyalty to me. I will follow Brandon no matter what even if I am to die because of it."

Dani looked at him trying to determine his sincerity before responding, "Why are you so willing to die for Brandon, what could he have done to inspire such unquestioned loyalty in you? The others told me you only follow or obey Brandon that you don't care for ideology or any of the sides. So why would a person who doesn't care follow someone so blindly?"

"That's true the Professor's ideology means absolutely nothing to me, all I care about is my friend and making sure he gets what he wants. I may not care about a lot of things, but loyalty I understand. They teach us that in the Marines, semper fidelis, always faithful that is our motto." Alan answered becoming irritated with the young girl and her questions.

'I've fought plenty of battles from Puerto Colon to black ops in more countries than I care to name. I fought for all the good reasons for my country, for honor, and for duty. Now that Brandon needs my help, I won't stand by and do absolutely nothing like those others. Until he wins or I'm dead that's when I'll stop following him,' Alan thought as the Professor wheeled into the room causing the man to look in his direction.

"Ah," Professor Xavier stated a smile on his face, "it's good to see that you have recovered some Mr. Fitzgerald. I was hoping to talk to you while Brandon was occupied else where."

"Of course, but you can just call me Alan, I have no need for such formalities even if I am older. Well Professor how exactly can I be of service?" Alan asked as the Professor motioned for Dani to leave the room.

"Thank you for helping me," Dani stated as she quickly left the room without saying another word to the man.

'This reminds me how much I dislike telepaths, particularly that Asian girl I ran into in Britain a year or two back. Talk about a pain in the ass, but work is work and I was told to get her back to London. Speaking of that if he's reading my mind he is learning about a classified military operation, great now I know how Brandon feels. Oh well think of course 12 that talks about thought guarding from telepaths that I took when I worked for the CIA a few years back.' Alan thought as he looked at the Professor intently trying to guard his thoughts to the best of his ability.

Professor Xavier moved closer to the injured man handing him Brandon's military file. Smiling Alan opened the file looking down at the information that he already knew. The first part of the file was labeled Lance Corporeal Ayers, Brandon furthered down on the first page was a military identification number followed by a short list of missions and assignments.

"Is there something I can help you with Professor? If you want missions' specifics I may not be able to do that depending upon their classification." Alan asked trying to figure what the Professor desired exactly.

"Brandon's file reads like a book, but there is something I wanted to know. In his file Brandon's primary MOS is listed as 0311 which after some research I now know is a rifleman, however if you look further down the page he has an additional MOS listed as classified: see code LTGA-13986 Alpha for description." Professor Xavier said in a calm voice as Alan looked at the place that the man had mentioned.

"Sorry Professor can't help you there, the marking LTGA probably means Lieutenant General Henry Ayers. As for the rest of it, it doesn't make any sense to me since all MOS are supposed to be four digits. I wish I could be more helpful but have you shown the file to Brandon or maybe your friend Logan?" Alan commented attempting to figure out what that designation meant and why it was listed on Brandon's file.

'What the hell is a classified code doing in Brandon's file, what the hell is that old geezer of his planning? That old geezer is getting a visit from me, I wont tolerate this.' Alan thought as he thumbed through the file, he had only grabbed the file, out of respect for his friend he didn't read the file.

Professor Xavier shook his head as he was handed the file back, "I haven't asked either of them, Logan doesn't remember much of his time in the military, and for the most part Brandon is burdened greatly by some of the things he has seen. Neither one is interested in talking about the things they have done or seen while in service but both are willing to help here using what they have learned in the military to help the others here. Also I would like to add that you are welcome to stay here at least until you are back on your feet again."

"Brandon wasn't one to brag about the things he did while in the Marines and it sounds like he hasn't changed a bit. He doesn't like to talk about it; he had to see things that would make most people sick to their stomach. I'm not surprised it burdens him, if it didn't I would be worried. You got a good place here Professor; I think that Brandon has become something much more important now that he can use his abilities openly. I appreciate the offer; as soon as I heal enough I will leave to carry out the original assignment Brandon gave me." Alan replied as he coughed a little taking in a nice big drink of water.

"Yes well for the time being please rest, and regain your strength. I don't want to over exert you, please excuse me it seems I have matters concerning Dani now that she has arrived here." Professor Xavier politely said as Alan bowed his head slightly as the man wheeled out of the room.

'Finally I can get some rest; damn these people are really curious about things. I should rest now, Brandon is here to guard the place, and war is far from here at least at the moment any way. I need to recovery quickly I don't like leaving things in the hands of others. Never know when there will be enemies at the gates,' Alan thought as his mind thought about all of the contacts and allies he had developed over time.

Alan started to rest peacefully this time hoping that this time he would finally be able to get some sleep. He only woke up to staring at a clock, the man was hard pressed to believe that it was nearing one until a woman stepped into the room carrying a tray of food.

"Hello I hope you are feeling up to eating something, these are some of my best dishes." Ms. Munroe stated as she placed the tray with a plate full of corn, green beans, mashed potatoes, and a slice of ham on his bed.

"Thank you Ms. Munroe, I appreciate the chow its not every day that I get to eat something that isn't a MRE. I do have to admit though; I am surprised that you are all taking such good care of me." Alan replied as he took a bite of food motioning for her to sit next to him.

"Please just Ororo will be fine; I get enough of Ms. Munroe from the students and Brandon. He is absolutely adamant about calling me that, every morning or day that I see him. As for taking care of you, you have placed yourself at considerable risk for all of us. Not only that but you are also one of Brandon's oldest friends we couldn't turn you away when you showed up here injured and as long as I'm here and the Professor is, we will never turn any one who is hurt away." Ororo commented a warm smile on her face as the man ate the food.

"That sounds like Brandon; it took me two years to get him to stop saluting me on sight. Give him some time; this is probably his way of showing respect for you. I appreciate you bringing me the food, but I wouldn't say that I've been taking more risks than usual." Alan commented as the woman slowly handed him a bowl of pudding.

'Whoa they eat this good here, find me an enlistment sheet I'll sign up right now for this food. No wonder in Brandon's emails he calls her the mother of this mad house, she cares about everyone under this roof.' Alan thought as he took a bite of the pudding, and then a quick drink of water.

Ororo picked up the tray carefully moving it aside as she grabbed the water bottle to refill it once more. She watched as Alan sat up and seemed to act like he was getting ready to get up and walk.

"I don't think you should be doing that so please sit back down and relax. You shouldn't be up and walking about in your condition," Ororo pleaded as Alan merely nodded and relaxed back into the bed that he was had been resting on.

"Bah, I've had worse injuries done to me before. These are just flesh wounds, I survived another job with a dislocated shoulder, a broken arm, and a gun shot wound to my left leg. This isn't that bad compared to that, but if it makes you feel better I promise not to walk around any today. Tomorrow though I fully intend to get up and move about some though, I can't stand being in here another day." Alan answered as he looked at the lady that took the time to make his food.

Ororo stood up carefully picking up the tray and preparing to leave the room when Alan motioned for her to stop. He handed her the empty bowl and then closed his eyes slightly.

"Tell me something," Alan started waiting for her to stop to answer him, "is Brandon happy here?"

Ororo stopped for a moment surprised by the question that Alan had asked and she answered it to the best of her ability, "I believe that he is very happy here, I know that he had problems with nightmares but he is very happy being with everyone here. He also seems very happy being with Amara, but I better get back to work, I have to teach the other students and their lunch is almost over."

'Good Brandon's found a place to be happy, that means all I got to do is make sure he is successful. Its time the two of us started to plan some bigger moves, the two of us alone we can't win a war on this magnitude and the students here aren't ready for a real battlefield. Reinforcements are clearly necessary in this situation, if we aren't careful we could easily be over powered or out numbered.' Alan thought as he slowly drifted to sleep.

Ororo walked down the hall slowly carrying the tray with her when she passed Logan who was heading directly for the infirmary. Stopping a moment, she sat the tray on the floor so she could talk with the man who seemed intent on speaking to Alan.

"Logan, he just finished eating and I think he is trying to rest now. Why don't you come back later, after he has rested, whatever questions you have can surely wait until then?" Ororo stated sweetly with her warm smile causing the normally gruff man to halt his advance.

"Alright Ro, I'll talk to him but after I finish my danger room session. That should be more than enough time for him to rest some," Logan said showing the utmost respect for Ororo.

"Thank you Logan, and don't forget I need you to help me out later with the expansion of my garden." Ororo stated as she picked up the tray and headed back upstairs only hearing a slight growl in acknowledgement for her comment.

Meanwhile back up stairs Brandon had recently finished a shower and returned to Piotr's room to keep trying his hand at painting. Brandon laughed as he showed his latest work to Piotr and peeked over seeing the fact that Piotr had quite a surprise for him. Brandon smiled; Piotr's painting was of him trying his own hand at painting. It had him smiling and almost laughing in the painting as Brandon admired his own painting.

"So this is what you have been working on huh, I must say that I am impressed. It's a lot better than mine any way," Brandon stated as he held up his own painting which looked more like a bunch of lines drawn everywhere.

Piotr smiled as he started to laugh at his comrade's attempt at art, "I'm sorry comrade, but you clearly need more practice," he added as the two started to laugh.

"Yep that's for sure, but it will have to wait for another day. Maybe once a week I'll try this, it couldn't hurt for me to rest one day. I got to tell you though, that I had a lot of fun trying this, I never had time for stuff like this in the Marines." Brandon commented as the two nodded to each other heading back down stairs.

"So comrade, what are your plans with Amara this weekend? The two of you have been spending a lot of time with each other lately." Piotr asked as Brandon stopped for a moment.

"Actually I was planning on taking her out to eat at a fine restaurant; I made reservations at a very nice French restaurant on the other side of Bayville. The two of us need some time alone together; we don't get much of that here. Besides it has been a while since we started dating and I think we need the time to celebrate. I have been planning this date for quite a while to be honest, and it is very hard to arrange such things without being caught around here by someone. I would appreciate it if you didn't tell anyone; the slightest problem could be disastrous to my plan. I've already got a dozen roses ordered and the reservations confirmed, so all I have left to do is well surprise her." Brandon answered trying to create a short and concise answer to the question.

"It sounds like you have quite a few things planned out for the two of you and don't worry comrade I promise no one will know about this date that you have planned." Piotr commented as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"Thanks for keeping my secret, remember don't tell anyone about this date, not even Kitty. I'm sure the others will be here soon, and I still have to go back and make sure Alan hasn't burned anything down despite the fact that he is supposed to stay in his bed." Brandon stated joking about his friend and his tendencies toward destruction.

"Is he really that destructive comrade?" Piotr asked as the two headed downstairs and into the lobby.

Brandon stopped for a moment in the lobby noticing the others returning from school before responding, "Are you kidding Piotr, I'm lucky the time he has spent here hasn't resulted in a fire yet. I'm not kidding either; it's like second nature for him to destroy everything."

Brandon and Piotr both stopped when the others arrived back, primarily Scott and Jean along with Kitty, Kurt and Rogue. Brandon watched as Rogue walked away from the others, the two of them hadn't exactly gotten to know each other.

"Hey everyone how's it going?" Brandon asked with a cheerful expression on his face.

"Class today vas a real pain, I really don't like math." Kurt commented as they all gathered around the two.

"How is Alan, I hope his injuries weren't too severe?" Scott asked as Brandon started to laugh a little.

Brandon stopped laughing for a moment to answer, "It seems he just refuses to leave, and I don't think we will be losing him that easily. How was class?"

The others laughed at the comment as they all stood there talking, it was kind of a first for all of them. These were the X-men and for the most part Brandon didn't talk to them when they were all together.

"Starting to get stressful, we have mid terms coming up unfortunately. I hope we have a lot of peace and quiet Organic Chemistry is not going to be easy." Jean answered as Brandon smiled a little at the comment.

"Really," Brandon started grinning at the mention of chemistry, "that is probably the one reason I don't go to college, academics aren't my thing. I hate chemistry for the most part, but there are a few officers that love academics."

"You think that's bad try having Applied Mathematics," Kitty answered as Brandon shuddered at the mention of math.

"Katya it can't be that bad," Piotr interjected as Brandon just shook his head in response.

"Like would either of you like to try figuring that stuff out?" Kitty asked as Brandon looked at her putting his hands up to surrender.

"Don't look at me I hate math and I don't think Piotr would like it much either. Well it seems the others are back from high school." Brandon answered as Tabby, Jubilee, and Amara walked in the room.

Upon seeing Brandon the others watched as Amara ran over giving him a hug and a quick kiss causing the marine to blush slightly. The two looked over for a moment noticing that everyone was watching them.

"I'm going to go get changed, we are training today right?" Amara asked as Brandon shrugged his shoulders.

"Hmm," Brandon started thinking of what they could do for training today, "yeah we will be hitting the gym today, so no running or hand to hand. I think a little weight training would be good for all of us, so everyone that is training should go get changed if they need to."

"Okay I'll be back in a few after I get changed." Amara yelled as she ran up the stairs heading for her room as Tabby moved closer to Brandon.

"Hey Brandon can I talk to you in private," Tabby whispered quietly to the marine as he nodded, following her to the den.

"Look in a few weeks there is going to be a dance, a big one at school. Mara has never been to one, she refuses to go without a date and well no one has asked her out this whole time. So I want you to take her to the dance." Tabby stated as Brandon looked at the blond, noticing that she was turning off her normal excitement attempting to help her friend.

Brandon looked at Tabby continuing to evaluate her until he looked at her rather nervously, "Dancing, well this is a problem, I don't know how to dance. We didn't have dances were I went to school, not to mention I hate suits."

'This is not good, I better learn how to dance and fast. Of all the things they teach you in the corp, dancing just never came up. This is a disaster; I don't want her to miss any more dances. What the hell am I going to do, guess this means I'm going to have to ask someone to teach me.' Brandon thought as he fiddled with his hands.

"Wait your telling me that you with all the things you learned in the marines you never learned how to dance. You're kidding right," Tabby said teasing him as he shook his head no.

"No I'm not kidding, but don't worry I'll learn how so she can go, I got a few weeks to learn. Well let's go we all got weight training to go through, but you can take a few minutes to go get changed." Brandon commented as he started to leave the room.

Brandon moved quickly not wanting to discuss the issues further as he motioned for everyone to follow him to the gym. Sighing a little, he noticed that yet again Ray and Roberto seemed to be arguing over something once more.

"No way, I'm telling you she likes me more," Ray yelled as he and Roberto started to argue over a girl that they saw at school.

"That is it, you two have been arguing over every little damn thing. This is your last chance to end it today, because I will not tolerate it any longer. Get your acts together or move your asses to Logan's class because I don't have time for this." Brandon yelled getting in the face of the two students as he motioned his hand for them to get started.

'They never stop arguing, I'm getting tired of them arguing with each other every exercise. It may be time for some drastic measures if this doesn't end soon, its not good for morale or team chemistry.' Brandon thought as Ray started his workout.

"Okay everyone hit your workouts, but everyone will be expected to do the bench presses today, no exceptions. I'll stay here and spot who ever is lifting," Brandon added in a yell as all of the New Mutants plus Paige and Noriko went to work.

Logan growled as he walked out of the danger room, a few pieces of smoke rising from his uniform. Turning the man had spent over four hours in the room demolishing the training program that was specifically designed for him. Walking with determination the man headed straight for the infirmary where Alan had been resting. Growling again the man entered the room taking in a small smell of blood that had been from the man's injuries.

"So you still with us bub?" Logan barked as Alan looked over at him.

"Yeah, I'm not ready to die at least at the moment any way. So what do I owe the pleasure of a visit from you old timer?" Alan asked sarcasm dripping from his voice as Logan walked over towards him.

Logan growled at the comment before answering, "You want to tell me why someone like you seems to be not only one step ahead, but also managing to fight off a man of the skill of Wilson. That tells me that one you aren't a normal marine and two that your combat abilities are far beyond that of a normal human. Care to explain some basics about yourself like who the hell you are or where the hell you picked up this kind of training?"

Alan took a drink of water carefully glaring at Logan before considering his answers. Placing the bottle down on the table, Alan just continued to stare at the man not even bothering to answer him.

"I'm waiting bub; I'm not going any where until I get an answer." Logan barked as Alan finally seemed to relent some grinning at the man.

"Under normal circumstances I would ignore you and just let this go. However, this is far from normal so I'll give you some insight into me. I was trained by the Marines for Force Recon after that I joined the elite Scout Snipers division. I spent more time being trained by my mentor and after I finished a few missions for the marines I was loaned out to the CIA and NSA until I joined my current employer and that is all you are going to get out of me." Alan stated calmly as he went over his last few employers.

Logan seemed to stop for a moment so he could think about what he just heard.

'Force Recon and then the Scout Snipers, how in the hell could the marine have met up with this guy. Makes sense a former recon marine and scout sniper would have received enough training to be able to fight someone like Wilson.'

"So who do you work for is it SHIELD or someone else?" Logan asked a small growl escaping when he mentioned Fury.

"Don't make me laugh; I'm not working for Fury or SHIELD. You don't need to worry about who I work for, as far as I am concerned I work for Brandon and these guys are just a little side job. I intend to be watching over him and this place for a very long time especially now that he and the princess have gotten such a close relationship." Alan coolly stated as he took in another drink of water.

Logan growled slightly upon hearing that not pleased with the fact that Alan seemed to only follow Brandon. Logan left the room not saying another word to the man causing Alan to sit up slightly in his bed.

'Well at least the people here are interesting, does bring up a few interesting thoughts about Brandon and the princess though. I probably should stop calling her that, if the two get any closer, I'll have a little sister to watch out for as well. I always considered Brandon family, how could I not consider her family as well if the two do get closer. Oh well too bad Johnson isn't here we could place bets on how long it takes Brandon to admit that he loves her, or screw the whole thing up.' Alan thought as he closed his eyes to enjoy some peace and quiet without anyone bothering him.

Next Chapter: Memorable Moments

Brandon joins the X-men for their training, wanting to have more time to prepare for his date. While Brandon trains Alan scours the institute for bugs, and makes his own plans to insure that a certain date goes well. Magneto prepares his own response to the new threat; meanwhile Reaper is close by waiting for the exact right moment to strike the institute.


	16. Memorable Moments

**AN: The fic is proceeding very well however I would like to ask everyone to review the fic. Also since this is the holidays and I want the best, the next chapter may take longer than usual. I look forward to your reviews and a good holiday season to all.**

Rolling over carefully in his bed, Brandon was just laying in his bed his eyes wide open. Time seemed to just slip by for the marine as he just stared at the clock. Sitting up he put on a pair of sweatpants, and then went over to the sink to splash some water on his face.

'Why am I so nervous, it's just a date with Amara? I know she will go but damn, why do I feel like a recruit on graduation day. What the hell, it's clear that I've gotten all the sleep I'm going to get. I should be glad I can function on little or no sleep.' Brandon thought as he walked out of his room closing the door only to be startled by someone.

"I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Alan commented as he leaned against the wall near his friend's room.

"Damn Alan do you always have to do that, I'm not use to anyone else being up besides Ms. Munroe." Brandon replied as Alan merely smiled following his friend down stairs.

"So what are you up to Brandon, must be a big to keep you from sleeping at night? Could it be the rumors of you taking the fire princess out on a date tonight are true?" Alan questioned a smirk forming on his face as his friend bowed his head.

"Alright look I'm taking Amara on a big date tonight; I've had this planned for a while. Some of it is a surprise so I would appreciate it if you would spy on someone else." Brandon answered as Alan nodded his head in agreement.

"No problem, I'll even help by making sure you have an empty mansion for later. Might need some alone time together for…," Alan said nearly laughing as his friend glared at him.

"Fine just don't burn the place down," Brandon countered as Alan shrugged his shoulders, as they entered the kitchen.

"You date someone who literally controls lava and you are worried about me burning the place down. There has to be a God, no one else has this sense of irony," Alan replied with sarcasm in his voice as the two grabbed some breakfast.

"Morning Brandon, Alan" Ms. Munroe called as the two replied in kind both eating their breakfast quickly.

The two marines looked up quickly noticing that Scott had entered the room. Making his way over to the two marines, he took a seat next to them as they literally swallowed their breakfast in a few bites.

"Hey Scott, how's it going? If it's okay with you, I would like to train with the X-men today. I kind of have big plans and no time to do my usual training alone." Brandon asked as Scott looked a little surprise at the request.

"Sure, just be downstairs in an hour, that's when Logan is starting our exercise today. So what are these big plans huh?" Scott answered curious about the marine's plans for later on.

"I can't tell you, it's supposed to be a surprise for Amara. I'll be sure to tell you a few details later though," Brandon commented as he picked up his bowl and put it in the dishwasher.

"Believe me I understand that perfectly, Jean and I still do things like that all the time." Scott replied smiling as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

The three men stood there waiting a moment until Brandon stood up and started to move towards the door. Quickly following his friend, Alan also stood up mumbling his thanks to Ororo before leaving the room following his friend.

The two walked near the usual suit of armor causing Brandon to stop and whisper something to his friend, "Alan I need a favor, how long would it take you to sweep this place for surveillance devices?"

"Given the size maybe seven, eight hours tops not including the sub basement. You got a bug problem here?" Alan whispered back as the two remained near the suit of armor.

"Yeah I think so; there was some technology back at the sentinel factory that clearly was developed here." Brandon whispered back as Alan scratched his head in response.

'This works perfectly, I'll offer to sweep the place for bugs and since the equipment can't be operated around a lot of loud people it will help Brandon and Amara. Those two could use some time alone, and a room.' Alan thought as a big smile crossed his face, his friend wasn't the only one to have plans.

"Fine, leave it to me, but I won't be able to start until much later. I also need to get everyone out for a while, the equipment that scans for bugs; it's very sensitive to sound." Alan stated as the two started to walk again, heading for Brandon's room.

"Okay I'll leave this in your hands; I have to get my uniform for training. The new ones still aren't ready yet, oh yeah could you give this note to Amara for me. I don't have time to give it to her, and it has a lot of important info about tonight." Brandon commented referring to the new uniforms that his grandfather had given them, handing him a carefully folded note with Amara's name written on the top.

"No problem, but lets not make a habit of this, I'm not a postal worker. I'm sure I can keep myself occupied for a while, there are a lot of cute girls in this town." Alan said as he walked off leaving his friend alone to change.

Brandon changed quickly and then headed for the danger room to wait for the others. Tapping his foot, Brandon let himself think of old memories that had occurred when he was first starting out as a marine. He looked up in surprise as the X-Men had finally arrived, and had a surprise as Brandon was standing there apparently waiting for them.

"Comrade what's going on, you normally aren't here this early in the morning?" Piotr commented as Brandon stopped tapping his feet.

"I thought I would join all of you for your training today," Brandon answered as Scott grinned; this was something he had been hoping for since Brandon had arrived.

"Great, just follow my lead and everything should go just fine." Scott spoke as everyone walked into the danger room.

Logan looked up from his morning coffee making sure all the X-Men were there only to stop when he looked at Brandon. Logan adjusted some switches on the simulator, he hadn't been expecting the marine to join the training today.

"Alright this is a pair exercise, you will work in groups of two to get through the maze, and your goal is to cross the finish line." Logan bellowed as everyone nodded understanding Logan's instructions.

"Okay Colossus and Shadowcat will go first, followed by Odin and Rogue. Iceman and I will go next since Jean is busy studying for her Organic Chemistry mid term. Kurt's out with Amanda so he will not be participating today either." Scott stated as Brandon walked over to Rogue taking a seat next to her.

"Hi, I know we haven't exactly talked much but we have been assigned as training partners for this exercise." Brandon replied as Rogue just stared at him.

"Yeah ah know; let's try to get this done as quickly as possible. Besides I hear that you are taking Amara out tonight." Rogue commented as he looked a little surprised at that comment.

"Damn can't keep a secret in this place, oh well lets finish this little training," Brandon replied as the two walked over to the line, waiting for Piotr and Kitty to finish. About twenty minutes later, they saw the two returned both looking tired.

Brandon looked up waiting for the buzzer and took off as soon as he heard it. Moving quickly he raised a barrier to absorb the laser blasts from the traps and checked his six carefully to make sure that Rogue was still there with him.

"Watch the left flank; they are trying to out maneuver us." Brandon yelled as droids began to move around his first barrier.

"Thanks ah got them," Rogue yelled back as she kicked away a droid, and then watched as Odin used an energy blast to remove all of the droids near her.

Brandon looked over to the left noticing that the way had changed and they had two choices to go. He didn't even hesitate launching a powerful blast of energy to destroy the wall continuing to go straight.

'If we go the wrong way and it's a trap we are screwed. She doesn't have anything really offensive power wise unless I'm interested in sharing a few bad memories. Best way to handle something when you don't know where you're going is to make your own path.' Brandon thought as his partner used her hand to hand training to knock away more droids.

"Be careful, I don t know how many more are coming," Odin commented as he flung some energy blasts at the droids that were moving towards them.

"I know, but mae word they are starting to overwhelm me. There are so many, this isn't the normal difficulty that we train on." Rogue commented, her southern accent coming through as Brandon used an energy wave to destroy all of the droids in front of him.

The two continued going finally seeing the finish line, until they both skidded to the stop. An entire army of droids seemed to be waiting for them causing both of them to stare at the droids.

"Remind me to thank Logan for this; I was hoping to not be worn out or dead after this." Brandon commented as he grabbed Rogue and dived behind a wall.

"I know he must really want to test ya," Rogue replied as he peeked out barely avoiding a laser blast to the face, both hearing the droids moving towards them.

Odin dove out raising a powerful barrier to absorb the blast, and watched as Rogue stepped out from behind the wall only to see the barrier glowing due to the amount of energy blasts. It was an interesting mix of color, the barrier flashing a light green color as it continued to absorb the energy. It didn't even seem to affect Odin as he stood there, glowing slightly due to the strain of maintaining the barrier for a long time.

"I'm getting sick and tired of all these damn droids, I blast one and three more take its place." Brandon yelled getting tired of the harassing nature of the droids.

"For a marine ya sure don't have a lot of patience," Rogue responded as he nodded his head keeping the barrier intact while preparing a surprise attack.

"Patience isn't one of my virtues; I prefer eliminating the enemy as quickly and efficiently as possible in order to fulfill the mission objectives." Brandon replied as he shrunk the barrier to only cover the two of them.

Brandon hands glowed as energy began to build up at a rapid rate, he removed the barrier quickly. A massive energy blast followed one that looked more like a shot out of a laser weapon than the orb like blast that he normally sent out. This blast however was much more focused and narrow designed to carve a path through the enemy without much of a problem. Both of them nodded and then took off running both heading for the finish line.

"We are almost there," Rogue shouted as the two neared the finish line.

They were almost there when Odin noticed a droid that had survived and fired a blast at Rogue. The two had nearly finished when both got hit by a blast of energy in the back causing both to fall forward only a few steps from the finish line. Reaching over Odin grabbed Rogue and pulled her forward crawling towards the finish line, while pulling her along. The blasts were meant to stun, but through sheer will of force, Odin pulled the two across the line finishing the exercise.

"That was fun, I've wanted to try that new move; would have been better if I wasn't in a hurry. Maybe next time we could add a few traps or a more interesting target waiting for us at the end." Brandon stated as he took in a deep breath after finishing the exercise.

Rogue grunted a little, responding to the comment while wiping off some sweat, "Speak for yourself, ah think ah need a vacation from this kind of training."

"Not a bad days work if I do say so myself. I tend to destroy a lot of these now that I think about it; I hope I'm not costing the Professor to much for all of these repairs he has to do after I finish training." Brandon replied as he kicked a broken droid to the side as the two walked back to the finish line.

"Are ya always this talkative to people, ah would like some peace and quiet after that. No offense, it's just ah don't know ya very well." Rouge said as he stopped walking for a moment considering what she had said.

Brandon stood there thinking about what she had just said, 'that's true, I don't know her very well. It's my fault really I've been so caught up with everyone else that I've neglected to get to know her. Damn, Johnson always told me that knowing all of your allies and teammates was essential for survival. I can't very well let the situation stand as it is.'

"Hey are ya still in there Odin?" Rogue asked noticing that the marine had stopped walking and seemed to be thinking carefully.

"Huh, oh yeah I'm still here but what you said was true. I'm sorry; it seems that I haven't spent any time getting to know you. A good marine always knows all of his teammates; you never know when you'll need one to save your ass in a battle. So, I guess the question is what would you like to know?" Brandon asked as he started to walk again.

"Do ya like it here?" Rogue asked as the two walked back to the starting line, Cyclops and Iceman about to begin their own exercise.

"Yeah it's not a bad place, for the most part it's very peaceful here, I kind of enjoy it but I also miss my friends in the corp. I do find some of the lack of discipline a little disturbing and the lack of maturity among some of the students here very disturbing." Brandon answered as she looked at him with an uncomfortable look on her face.

"Ah see, ah never thought about things like that really. Well with the exception of Bobby's pranks, speaking of him, how much longer are they gonna take." Rogue commented as the two waited for the last two participants to arrive.

"Since its Bobby we are talking about here, I'm willing to place money on they both get shot before they finish. That kid is still trying to prank me; I found him trying to sneak into my room on more than one occasion." Brandon stated a small smile on his face as Rogue started to laugh.

Rogue stopped laughing and then replied with her own comment, "If ya think that's bad, you should have been here when he planted Logan's beer in Scott's room."

The two started to laugh as Rogue took off her gloves, both laughing at the idea of that happening. Both seemed to stop when Scott rounded the corner with Bobby, his uniform having a few scorch marks from laser blasts.

"Like what happened to you two?" Kitty asked as everyone gathered around them.

Scott glared at Bobby as he answered the question, "Well Bobby here got a little too excited and well one thing led to another and we ended up being ambushed by the droids."

"I swear kid, if you don't calm down; you are going to get yourself or someone else hurt. War isn't a videogame like this place is, you might get a few bruises in here but out there in the real world you might end up dead pulling stunts like that." Brandon said as he analyzed the situation not pleased with its turn out.

"Hey what do you know, I was just trying to win." Bobby replied as the two glared at each other.

"I know more than I care to admit, and I have better things to do than argue with you. Just remember this if anyone gets hurts because of your stunts, that if there is anything left of you after the other adults get done I will finish the job." Brandon answered anger dripping from his voice as the two stared each other down.

Brandon sighed a little, backing off and walking away from him slowly. Never once did he turn his back to Bobby as he took a seat on the floor slowly waiting for Logan to give them their results for the exercises. Rogue walked over to him, noticing that he was isolating himself from the others.

"Why aren't ya with the others, you don't have the problems I do with your abilities?" Rogue questioned as the marine nodded his head slightly.

Brandon bowed his head before answering her, "The reason I'm not with them is the fact that iceboy really irritates me, I don't like the fact that he got under my skin like that. I should have handled that better, his attitude is unacceptable in this matter. Just so you know though I didn't always have this kind of control over my abilities, I was very lucky to be trained by my grandfather. Maybe that's why the Professor never came for me like he did the rest of you; I had someone to help me. In all honesty though the primary reason I haven't talked to you much is because I don't want to be drained."

"He's not a marine, just a kid try to remember that. Ah can understand your problem with mae abilities, it does take its toll on people. Ah wish that ah could touch people normally like everyone else." Rogue answered as the marine touched her covered shoulder.

"It's not that, I wouldn't care to touch you, but I understand that you also get the memories of those that you drain. I have memories of a few things that I really wouldn't want to burden you with, I chose to join the marines after all. A few bad memories are the price of that choice, and well I'm afraid that you would think poorly of me if you had them. I just don't want anyone else to be burdened by them; it takes everything I have on some days to hold myself together." Brandon replied as she nodded her head slightly.

"That is very nice of ya, not many people think about things like that. Ya shouldn't worry about it; ah have worse memories from Sabertooth, Magneto, and in some cases Logan." Rogue said as he bowed his head slightly.

Brandon stood up starting to walk back towards the others, stopping only to offer his hand to help her up. She slid her gloves back on carefully making sure that none of her skin was showing before standing up on her own. The young man nodded slightly understanding her reason for not taking his hand.

"Thanks but I still intend to keep my guard up about it, well at least practice is over today. I got a lot to do before things are ready tonight; I need to go check in with Dr. McCoy before I get ready. He was mumbling something about wanting a blood sample for testing." Brandon stated as the two walked over joining the others.

The doors opened as Logan entered the room, growling slightly, apparently unpleased with the results. He growled again, one of his claws popping out shredding the paper that had the results printed on it. Everyone bowed their heads, knowing that this would not be pleasant.

"Well these results are less than acceptable, I can understand the marine having a hard time since he is new to our training. You two should be working perfectly, Bobby you've been on the X-men for a year. You all need to work on your teamwork, so we will be having additional workouts for the next week." Logan growled as he walked away from the group.

A lot of complaining occurred, with the exception of Odin. The others talked about their day and the events they had planned as everyone left the danger room.

Brandon turned his head slightly, "I'll see all of you later, and I have to stop by to visit the infirmary. I hate needles, damn docs always needing blood for some reason or another," he said as he waved good bye heading down the hallway.

The marine entered the infirmary just as Sam and Tabby left, the two seemingly enough in an interesting conversation. He nodded to the two walking pass them as Dr. McCoy smiled as he entered the room.

"Ah Brandon, I've been expecting you, please take a seat I will be with you momentarily." Dr. McCoy said as the young man merely nodded, walking over to and taking a seat on the chair.

"Sure no problem, can you tell me why you need a sample of my blood though. I'm certain that when I first arrived and on the flight here that I bled enough for two or three vials." Brandon commented, making a slight joke about the injuries he had received at NRI.

Hank merely waved his fur covered hand motioning for him to follow him before answering with, "I am very curious about your abilities, you have a very unique mutation as far as energy mutants go. I have never heard of someone being able to control energy quite like you do. This test could go a long way in showing how and possibly even the true nature of your abilities."

"I see well who am I to stand in the way of your curiosity, just make this quick. Besides understanding my abilities better could benefit me on the battlefield as well." Brandon replied as he rolled up his sleeve so the man could insert the needle into his arm, focusing on listening to the conversation of Tabby and Sam to take his mind of the needle.

He watched as the man pulled out a large sized needle for drawing the blood along with a syringe for it. Closing his eyes, the marine could hear Tabby and Sam speaking just outside of the infirmary.

"Answer the question Sam, do you like me or not? Its not a trick question just answer it," Tabby asked as Sam stood there a little flustered.

"Uh," Sam stuttered, he was very shy after all and the answer was very difficult.

"Look I like the shy act and I like you, but I need to know whether or not you like me?" Tabby questioned as Sam seemed to run into problems coming up with an answer.

"Of course I uh like you," Sam said as the two continued to talk just outside of the infirmary.

"Well I'm waiting are you going to ask me to the dance or not?" Tabby asked as Sam seemed to blush a few different colors.

Sam fiddled with his hands slightly the young man having problems with the question, "Of course would you, uh, like to go to the dance with me?" he asked fiddling with his hands since he was very nervous.

Tabby moved up close giving Sam a kiss on the cheek causing the gentle southern boy to blush. He was still nervous despite his feelings for her, until she grabbed his hand. This time both of them kissed passionately.

Sam broke away taking in a deep breath, "That was nice, but could we find a place a bit more private than the hallway."

"What's the matter; you got no sense of adventure. So what if we get busted that's what makes it exciting besides you don't see Mara or Jean getting into trouble for making out with Brandon or Scott." Tabby said teasing the young man as he nodded his head.

"Well," Sam started while looking at Tabby, "I guess, I just want things to be more secretive between the two of us. Besides Scott and Jean have been going out for a long time, they are going to get hitched soon."

"Yeah I know but I guess secretive can be just as exciting. It does have a certain appeal to it, sneaking around the institute to meet each other." Tabby stated as she looked at a nervous Sam.

"It won't be that bad, but you have been a little less perky and well fun loving than usual. Is something wrong?" Sam asked as Tabby looked at him cautiously.

"Well Mara is my best friend and I'm really happy that she found herself a good man. The thing is that lately she has been spending all of her time with Brandon and well I kind of miss her. Those two got so close so fast, she rarely spends time with me unless he is busy or we are at school." Tabby answered as Sam hugged her in an attempt to comfort her.

"Well Brandon does try very hard to make her happy, so I'm sure she doesn't even realize it. I mean think about it, she has someone that makes her very happy. I'm sure that when she realizes it she will spend some more time just hanging out with you. Maybe you could have a night just for the two of you." Sam replied taking in a breath from his speech on the issue.

"Good idea, now come on farm boy, I have an idea for some fun for us." Tabby stated grinning as she grabbed his hand and dragged him along.

'I didn't realize that, I don't want her to lose any friends over me. Sam does make some very good points, we have been spending a lot of time together, and she probably could use a night with just her friends.' Brandon thought as he scratched his head, then grabbing his arm as Dr. McCoy pulled out the needle from his left arm.

"There all done Brandon, I'll be sure to let you know the results. This should be a most interesting test, I've been very curious about your abilities." Dr. McCoy stated as he placed the blood inside of a machine.

"Huh, oh no problem, if you would excuse me I have a lot to do and not as much time as one would hope." Brandon answered, the young man leaving the room after Dr. McCoy placed a band aid on his left arm.

"Of course, I'm certain that Amara would be very disappointed if the two of you were late. Speaking from my own experience before my own mutation activated, you made a fine choice for a restaurant." Dr. McCoy replied as the young man stopped, turning to look at him, a little shocked at his comment.

"How does everyone here seem to know everything that I'm planning to do later? The scuttlebutt here puts marines to shame, not even rumors spread this fast in the corp." Brandon muttered as he left the room to prepare for his date.

Meanwhile Alan dug through his jeep pulling out a black box and then grabbing two small side arms and sliding them into his pocket. Someone had locked up most of the weapons, but they didn't find the ones he had hidden throughout the vehicle as he grabbed the box and entered the institute once more.

'Well this here should seek out any bugs, I love my job. They always give me the coolest toys, or then again I always manage to borrow them. Time to get this thing started, I got my own plans for tonight. Wonder if Brandon will find those two things I left in the pocket of his dress uniform. Now that I think about it, he sure does attract a lot of trouble, not like I care though. Life without trouble is boring, and the way things are going Brandon's going to have a lot of enemies for me to eliminate. What are a few more deaths on my list any way,' Alan thought as he carried the box in, still favoring his side from his last fight with Deadpool.

Walking carefully he knocked twice before entering the Professor's office. He carried the box in with him, making sure to keep his thoughts guarded to keep the man from realizing his finer details.

"Alan, how can I help you today?" Professor Xavier asked as Alan lifted the box up and sat it on his desk.

"Well Professor, I figured that while I was here I would make myself useful. This thing here will scan for listening and spy devices but I need an empty institute to do it. The slightest sound will disrupt the search; I figured that you could use a search considering all of your enemies." Alan commented as the Professor folded his hands together rubbing his head to mull over the offer.

"Yes I believe that scanning for the devices would be beneficial; I already had plans to attend the school board meeting tonight and it will probably run late. Take all the time you need, but please try to be finished by curfew which is midnight tonight. I'll inform everyone that you will be starting and that they will need to leave so the search can be effective." Professor Xavier stated not likely the idea of anyone spying on his students.

"Thanks, I'll get started immediately on this. Oh and don't worry about Brandon and Amara, I'm sure you already know that the two lovebirds have plans for a fine restaurant tonight." Alan replied as he left the room with the box, leaving a smiling Professor behind.

Brandon pulled out his dress uniform carefully; it was the fanciest thing he owned. Hanging it up carefully, he polished his shoes carefully wiping out all of the smudges on them; he wanted everything to be perfect for tonight.

'Not bad, this will do women love a guy in uniform or so I hear anyway, besides I didn't purchase a suit so this is the only suitable thing I have to wear. Now that I think about it, these buttons could use a little more polish, a clean dress uniform is the sign of a professional after all. I better hurry up and get ready; time is short when you have to make a reservation.' Brandon thought as he pulled off his clothes and ran into his shower.

Downstairs at the front door of the institute, a flower man rang the door bell. Jubilee answered the door as a nervous man handled a dozen roses. He fiddled with the flowers, nervous about having to deliver them to the institute, which was still feared by a majority of the people in the town.

"Good afternoon, I have a dozen roses for a Ms. Aquilla, if you could just sign here please." The nervous young man stated as Jubilee seemed to frown a little.

'Amara's so lucky; I can't even get Bobby to pay attention to me. He wants to go out with that cheerleader, Tracy Wells. I can't believe Brandon bought all of these for her, he really doesn't do things half way.' Jubilee thought as she nodded and signed for the flowers.

"Thank you, have a nice day," the man stated backing away slowly and then nearly jogging away from the door heading for his delivery van.

Jubilee carried the flowers gingerly heading for the room that Amara still shared with Tabitha. Knocking twice on the door, she opened it noticing Tabby helping Amara get ready by brushing her hair, an unfolded note from Brandon lying on the chest. A strapless white dress hung nearby in her closet, that being her choice for tonight.

"Whoa somebody has a secret admirer, who are you going out with Jubes?" Tabby teased as Jubilee shook her head no.

"They aren't for me, take a look at the little card that says who they are for if you don't believe me. Amara's boyfriend sent them to her," Jubilee commented a little envious of the relationship that the two had with each other.

"No way, he sent Mara a dozen red roses, damn Mara he knows how to do things. I wonder where he learned how to do that, no way the marines teach a course on dating." Tabby commented as Amara opened the card.

Amara picked up the bouquet of flowers, and taking a quick whiff of the sweet aroma that the flowers had. Placing them in a Roman vase that she had brought from home, she filled it with water. She moved towards her dress grabbing it and disappearing to put it on.

Brandon stepped out of his room carefully adjusting his dress uniform; he had to make sure it looked just right. Grabbing the hat that went along with his uniform he walked down stairs garnering more than a few stares from people. Alan smiled a little seeing his friend in the uniform, knowing that it was for special occasions.

Jaime ran forward interested in getting a better look at the uniform, "That is so cool, I've never seen anything like that before. Is that what you are wearing on your date with Amara?" He asked as Brandon nodded his head.

"I would say so, but why aren't you wearing your medals as well. Nothing impresses a girl more than a few trophies from war and you do have three of them from the Puerto Colon campaign." Alan commented as he used his hand to adjust the shirt and collar.

Alan adjusted the uniform a little, helping his friend prepare then tossed him a set of keys, "Thanks I appreciate it, besides the medals would have been over the top and I'll bring the jeep back in one piece. I kind of wish I had something better to drive than that though. It may be time to buy a new ride." Brandon commented as Alan laughed at him.

Brandon turned his head noticing Amara and he was absolutely speechless. Her long flowing hair along with a dress showing off her legs and chest had him nearly in a catatonic state. Alan moved forward a little slapping him on the back of his, seemingly awakening him from his speechless state.

"You are absolutely the most beautiful girl that I have ever dated. You look stunning," Brandon praised as his date smiled in response.

"You don't look so bad yourself, that uniform makes you look very handsome. Shall we go now," Amara stated as he nodded his head carefully the two walking out to the garage.

Brandon opened the door, and then helped her into the jeep. Shutting the door carefully, he ran around literally jumping into the jeep. Turning the ignition, he sped out of the garage leaving the institute behind as he pushed the pedal down further. The drive was quiet as they pulled up to the restaurant on the other side of town.

"I feel bad taking you in this jeep, you deserve better," Brandon said as he opened the door and helped her out of the jeep.

"Don't worry about that, I don't care about that. I just want to be with you," she replied as he escorted her into the restaurant.

The two entered it carefully noticing that it was well lit and full of well dressed people. Glass chandeliers as well as many pieces of fine art relayed how upper crust the restaurant was to most people. The majority of people there stared at the two mostly due to the dress uniform that he was wearing. Stepping towards the waiter, the two nervously looked at each other as he motioned for them to follow him. The well lit room had candles and a debonair atmosphere as he pulled out Amara's seat.

'Guess people aren't use to a marine being here, or all these old men like staring at my very lovely date. Either way I don't really care, it doesn't matter to me because I know that the two of us have something special.' Brandon thought as the two looked over the menus that they had been given.

"Tonight's special are filet mignon marinated in a fine red wine. We also have a special on lobster," he stated as the two looked over the menus that they had been given.

"I'll have the filet mignon, well done and a nice salad." Brandon stated as Amara nodded her head in agreement, "I'll have that and also well done." were her only comments as the waiter disappeared.

"This is a nice place; I've never been to a place like this before. Did you get the red roses I had sent to you?" Brandon asked as she smiled at him, he was very nervous.

Amara smiled she could tell that he was a little nervous and answered attempting to put him at ease, "Yes I got them, they were very lovely flowers. Thank you for sending them to me. We don't have restaurants like this in Nova Roma but the royal palace is kind of like this."

"Really I would think that you would be use to much finer places. Places like the palace and this must be very familiar to you, they all have very proper behaviors in place." Brandon replied his smile still there as she frowned a little.

"I suppose so but I really don't like places like this much. To strict and formal, too much like all of that time I spent alone back at the royal palace." Amara said as Brandon bowed his head slightly.

"I'm sorry," he started as she reached over the table and touched his hand, "I would have picked another place if I knew you didn't like them that much. I just wanted to pick the best place possible to take you; I want to show everyone that I'm dating the most beautiful girl around."

"Really, you think I'm beautiful." Amara said as she held his hand, the two gazing at each other.

"Of course I do, I wouldn't have said it unless it was true in my opinion." Brandon replied as the two continued to look at each other.

Neither one stopped looking at each other as the waiter brought some bread. He didn't even speak to the two; they didn't even notice him as he retrieved the menus that were on the table. Music filled the room as a few musicians started to play in the room.

'That is so sweet; I don't even know what to say. No one has ever treated me like this before, is this how it feels to be in love. Is this how Jean feels around Scott? I feel so special, like I'm the most important person in the world to him.' Amara thought as he continued to gaze into her eyes.

"That is very sweet; you never seem to have a problem with speaking your mind do you?" Amara asked blushing a little at all of the compliments that he was giving her.

"Well," he answered after taking a small drink of water, "I guess that I've never had a problem with that at least when I'm allowed to speak it any way."

"I guess not," she smirked as the two continued to talk, "so do you think you could come with me to Nova Roma? We have a break in school coming up, and I haven't been home since my arrival here. I have a very good reason to go home now."

"Sure I would love to meet your family and see your home. You did meet my grandfather and you did survive so it's only fair that I meet your family as well. I got to wonder if your family will be just as thrilled to meet me though, and if you don't mind me asking why are we going to your home land?" he asked as she smiled a little at him.

"That's a surprise, but I'm sure my mother will love to meet you. Father might not be as happy, but once he gets to know you I'm sure that will change. Don't worry it will be a lot of fun for both of us," she replied as the two continued to look at each other.

Brandon picked up a piece of bread taking a small bite out of it before answering, "Great that sounds like fun, but I got to admit that I would rather fight a war than face off with your father. I was never good at meeting people in those kinds of situations, I can fight on a battlefield but your father sounds very scary to me."

"Don't worry you'll do fine, he's a teddy bear once you get to know him. He will just need time to adjust to the relationship that we have." She answered as he nodded his head in agreement.

"I think I understand; besides he can't be worse than grandfather was to you. What is Nova Roma like, I'm curious to know as much about your homeland as possible?" Brandon asked curious about her home and what it was like.

"Hmm, I think I'll let that be a surprise, I can't let you have all of the surprises after all. I know you'll like it though, it's a very beautiful place surrounded by nature." Amara answered as Brandon laughed a little in response.

The two both took a drink of water, both feeling a bit better about the date. Finally starting to laugh a little Brandon decided that he was just going to relax. The two noticed that a few couple started to dance next to a few musicians that were playing a very calm and slow song.

"Well milady may I have this dance?" Brandon asked politely offering his hand to her as she smiled grabbing his hand as he led her to the dance floor.

"One more thing though, you should know I'm not a very good dancer. I'll try my best though," he added as the two started to slow dance, Amara leaning her head against his right shoulder.

"I'm sure you'll do just fine, down the road though, I'm going to have to teach you how to dance. I love to dance," Amara replied as she slowly danced with him the two very close to each other.

'I hope this night never ends, I've never been this happy before. I can't wait until we get to talk more later on. I know that I'm in love with her, it's only a matter of admitting it to her.' Brandon thought as the two continued to slow dance with each other.

'I can't believe this, this is such a great night. He has been so sweet and such a gentlemen tonight. I can't believe this; I'm actually in love with him. I hope we have a lot of time alone later on,' Amara thought as the two continued dancing, a few people staring at them as they danced.

Amara looked over his shoulder carefully noticing the stares and then whispering into his ear, "You aren't that bad of a dancer, at least you haven't stepped on my toes yet. Have you noticed that everyone in here is watching us dance?"

"Hmm, yeah I noticed that they seem to be watching us carefully. I don't care though the girls are probably just jealous that their dates are staring at you instead of them. All I care about is the fact that you are enjoying yourself." He whispered back a small smile on his face as she grinned and started to laugh a little at his comment.

"Thank you, I haven't had this much fun in a very long time." she whispered a reply as the music came to a halt, causing them to stop dancing.

The two sat back down, Brandon pulling out her chair for her and then moving it forward before sitting down himself. A quick movement later, the waiter had returned with their food placing it before the two of them. The two were all smiles as they both started to eat the food that had been placed on the table. A small conversation began in between bites, both learning new things about each other.

'What a great night, and it's far from over,' was what both of them were thinking as they continued to eat their meal.

Hidden Location

Magneto grunted slightly as he looked over his latest recruits, he had been busy making his own preparations for the new threat that had emerged. He looked over the information he had on his new recruits, only to stop when the training program they had started ended.

"Very well done Exodus, I am pleased at your progress. Your abilities have grown well, as have yours Marrow. Just remember that I expect you both to come out in one piece when you are training." Magneto commented as the older mutant nodded his head.

"Of course anything that I can do for you lord Magneto, I live to serve your will after all." Exodus replied as he bowed slightly before the man he followed religiously.

"Who cares so long as the enemy is eliminated, I intend to eliminate them all with your help." Marrow responded as she flipped her hair back and then proceeding to retract the spikes she had out of her.

"Yes well that is fine so long as you do not eliminate your allies. You would do well to remember who leads this group." Magneto stated as he looked over a computer monitor displaying the results of Mastermind's search.

Mastermind walked in the room slowly, a device similar to Cerebro being left in his room. Magneto had built one to locate mutants for his own cause, and Mastermind being the only telepath strong enough to use it at the moment had finally found success.

"I've found their location; they are heading for Xavier's institute. According to the results they will arrive in seven hours, that would mean they are planning a surprise early morning attack." Mastermind stated, still a little afraid of Magneto.

'I've waited long enough, I've have been searching for this one and my daughter. No one takes anything from me, especially my daughter. There will be no mercy for this one, the one that attacked my Brotherhood. We shall see if this threat is really as powerful as it tries to be.' Magneto thought as six metallic spheres opened near him.

"Exodus, Marrow, Sabertooth, Mastermind, Pyro, and Quicksilver, you will all be accompanying me. I will show this threat that I am not meant to be taken lightly, but first I would like to see first hand how Charles and his precious students face off against this threat." Magneto spoke as his recruits entered the metallic spheres.

The spheres took off, everyone heading for one place. The Xavier Institute would soon be host to a battle between all three sides.

Next Chapter: Prelude to War part 1

Reaper attacks the institute and Odin decides to fight for a different reason other than avenging his fallen comrades. The X-men square off against the brainwashed and vastly improved Brotherhood, but what will Magneto and his Acolytes do?


	17. Prelude to War part 1

**AN: I am hoping for more reviews and I appreciate all of the reviews. My internet connection is very unstable and future updates may have to wait until I get back to my normal connection on campus. Keep on reviewing and enjoy everyone. **

A dark black heavily modified plane flew at high speeds over New York, its destination being the Xavier Institute. As it flew the occupants inside waited patiently, among them was Reaper, sharpening his scythe for battle.

'The master was furious when he learned that the mercenary had failed to retrieve the girl. I still have only two objectives: test the new Brotherhood and test the insect marine. She is supposed to go after the girl, but I should be prepared in case she fails. What fun this will all be, I wonder if these insects will be able to put up a better fight. Only time will tell, there is still a little time left for them any way.' Reaper thought as he rode in the back of the plane, two of the master's servant acting as pilots.

"Sir, we are nearing the destination, permission to engage the mansion defense system." A pilot said as he pressed a few buttons readying the plane for battle.

"Do as you wish insects but leave the occupants for us to deal with that, which is my only order." Reaper barked as he sat there with the Brotherhood.

"Yes feel free to engage them, but remember my orders. I decided I wanted to see this battle first hand," the Master stated as he seemingly appeared out of the shadows.

"Master, I am honored by your presence. I will do my best to comply with your wishes." Reaper stated as he and the Brotherhood bowed in front of the man, he merely shrugging a response as they continued their preparations.

Outside at the Xavier Institute defense weaponry started to activate as the plane flew over head. Defense lasers fired at the plane as it flew over head, only for it to drop three metallic balls on the ground. In a bluish blast they went off sending an electromagnetic pulse throughout the area. The plane flew over again this time opening fire on the remaining weapons as alarms began to go off throughout the institute.

Inside the institute, everyone was enjoying a nice peaceful sleep until they heard the plane roar by overhead. Brandon jolted out of bed sitting straight up, not even noticing the security system beginning to activate. Grabbing his uniform and putting it on quickly, joining the others out in the hallway as soon as he finished.

"Okay, until we know what is going on, we are all going down to the sub basement. Everyone should get in the elevator starting with the youngest first," Scott barked as everyone ran towards the elevator.

"Alan, are you okay?" Brandon yelled as his friend ran over to his side.

"Yeah I'm fine, but we have a problem that is a modified X-90 outside. I can bet that Kincaid is responsible for this little present, he has access to more toys than he really should." Alan responded as the EMP blast went through the institute, the bluish wave frying all of the unshielded electronics in the institute.

"What's going on?" Ray yelled out as he collapsed in pain from the blast. Noriko joined him the two electricity based mutants were out cold.

Everyone looked around, the pulsing sound the defense weapons normally made were gone, only a few still responded and those were the ones shielded from electromagnetic pulses. The elevator rose up, still working due to it being shielded as well. Piotr and Brandon picked up Ray and Noriko then joined the others in the elevator.

"Jean did everyone make it down to the sub level?" Scott asked concerned about the other residents.

Jean nodded her head taking a head count with her telepathy and then responded, "Yes everyone is down there including the Professor and Logan."

"Well like that's good news but these two are out cold, apparently electricity based mutants have a weakness to electromagnetic pulses. Any idea who is attacking us?" Kitty asked as she checked on Ray and Noriko.

"A good question but let's save it until we meet up with the Professor." Scott answered as everyone piled out of the elevator heading for the control room.

The large group of people walked in noticing screens displaying the plane making its attack run followed by four parachutes. The camera's zoomed in close displaying the Brotherhood's blank faces causing a few gasps in the room.

"No way it's like Lance and the others, but why are they attacking us? After Apocalypse we had finally started to get along with them." Kitty screeched surprised to see the man who had disappeared.

"I don't know, but those faces they are completely blank. Something isn't right about this situation, even the most battle harden marine doesn't have a blank expression upon entering battle." Brandon commented as he looked over the security footage.

"Okay, the X-men will engage the Brotherhood while the New Mutants stay behind and protect the Professor. This shouldn't be much of a problem," Scott replied as he sized up the Brotherhood.

The X-men slowly filed towards the door, moving to follow the orders that Scott had given them. Every stopped however as the Professor wheeled over to them, concern over his face for the ones heading out to engage the Brotherhood.

"All of you are expected to be very careful out there, while the Brotherhood has been defeated in the past, something is not quite right this time. I can not enter their minds, something or someone is blocking me." Professor Xavier spoke as everyone nodded their heads.

"I'll stay here; you guys should be able to handle this. Besides I have a bad feeling about this, be careful out there." Brandon stated as he looked over the monitor bringing up a photo of the black plane flying over head.

'Something isn't right here; I feel it deep down in me. This whole scenario, it's so well planned, no way would they be easily defeated and that plane has vanished. They knew our exact weaknesses and what to use to knock out the security system. I better be here just in case.' Brandon thought as he looked over the camera footage.

"Hey old timer show me were you put my weapons, its time for me to get back to what I do best." Alan quipped as he watched the X-men leave directing his comment towards Logan.

"I got better things to do, just stay here bub, you aren't in any shape to fight any way. " Logan growled as he went outside to join the X-men with Storm.

"Fine whatever, hey Doc, give me manual control of the remaining defense systems with the electromagnetic pulse your targeting computers are going to suck. Time to see if all that time playing good ole Duck Hunt comes in handy." Alan barked as he took a seat at the control center.

"New Mutants prep for battle that includes you X-23. Everyone except Paige, Dani, and Jaime will be accompanying me if things get worse. I want you three to protect the Professor, Ray, and Noriko." Brandon barked as he and the remaining people prepared to leave.

"Wait why can't I go?" Dani questioned as Brandon bowed down some to whisper to her.

"I need someone here to watch the Professor and the younger students besides I also want you to keep Alan out of trouble. Plus you haven't had much training with the rest of us, and since this might require a lot of teamwork that would be a liability." Brandon whispered as they left the room leaving the two others complaining.

Jaime walked up to him with Paige both of them wanting to go as well, Jaime speaking his opinion, "Why can't we go, we have trained just as hard as the others. We are just as good as everyone else."

"Yes you are and that's why I need you here, think about this, if we get sent out you are the last line of defense. You two, Dani, and Dr. McCoy will be the only ones here to protect the Professor. Personally I'm counting on the two of you and so is every one else that is out there." Brandon answered as Jaime looked at him curiously.

"I understand no one will get by the two of us, you have absolutely nothing to worry about, right Paige?" Jaime said as Paige smiled in response to his comment.

"Right, we will take care of it Brandon." Paige said as Sam smiled relieved that his sibling would not be heading out to the battlefield.

Brandon and the others walked down the hallway heading for the storage room. He pressed a few buttons, entering a security code causing the door to hiss open, allowing them all to enter the room. Moving towards the boxes that contained the uniforms, Brandon and Sam opened it carefully revealing the uniforms that had been given to them by Brandon's grandfather. The uniforms had been dyed black, and had a blocky type of protection, making it appear as if you were very muscular.

"Suit up with the new armor we need every advantage in battle. The armor on the bottom is for me, it was specifically designed for me according to this note." Brandon stated as they nodded taking the uniforms to the locker rooms.

Brandon slid the special armor on; it had heavier blockier plates that made it difficult for an untrained person to move quickly. The armor's plates made him appear very muscular the plates sticking out and two metal shoulder guards protected his shoulders. On the right shoulder the X symbol was paramount while on the left shoulder a patch showing the globe and anchor representing his days as a marine were present. His last action was attaching his globe and anchor pin before leaving the room. Taking a count he looked over his team, Magma, Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Sunspot, Wolfsbane and a reluctant X-23 waited there.

Meanwhile outside the X-men had finally caught up to the Brotherhood. The rampaging mutants didn't even bother to talk as Blob charged directly at the X-men. Cyclops fired at him releasing a blast from his visor, but it didn't even affect him the man still charging forward at them. Nightcrawler teleported the two out of the way, as Jean attempted to lift him with her telekinetic abilities.

Nightcrawler ran forward dodging his way through some hex bolts yelling at Wanda, "Vhat's vrong vith you Wanda, I can't think of a reason for you to be acting like this. Please stop this attack against us."

The Scarlet Witch also known as Wanda attacked the X-men with their own abilities. Cyclops optic blast had been rerouted as well as Jean's attempt to use her abilities to toss Wanda back. Nightcrawler teleported close attempting to hit her with a kick, but another hex bolt sent the fuzzy one flying. Rogue angry about that attempted to drain her, removing her glove to touch her face only to be sent away by Toad and a quick tongue whip attack.

Shadowcat ran through a boulder, trying to dodge them all so she could talk to Lance, "Like Lance what is wrong with you? Why wont you answer me?" she questioned.

The only reply was a deafening silence, he continued to attack sending a tremor her way until Colossus forced him back. He was about to release another tremor when Toad appeared sending a sticky glob straight at Shadowcat, and Iceman fired a beam of ice attempting to freeze him in place. The Brotherhood regrouped around Avalanche as the X-men regrouped around Cyclops.

"Something isn't right here, Lance never ignored me like that and that face it's so emotionless." Shadowcat commented as they glared across at their opponents.

"Comrades I believe that they are getting ready to attack us again. We should be prepared for anything, Wanda is very powerful." Colossus spoke as everyone watched the Brotherhood carefully.

The battle escalated as Blob charged towards them, followed by a tremor attack by Avalanche throwing them off balanced. Colossus ran forward blocking Blob's attack and using a massive metal uppercut to send him back some. A hex bolt hit Colossus however, sending him back a little as Toad shot a green glob at his face. Jean used her telekinesis to catch the glob and send it at Wanda only to have it hexed away by her ability to alter probability.

'They've never worked this well together before; they are covering each other, fighting like a real team this time. We are a good team but they even seem more powerful than the last time. We can't lose to them, not like this,' Scott thought as he fired another blast from his visor hitting Blob square in the stomach.

Avalanche's eyes turned white as he summoned a powerful tremor, only to be interrupted by Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, and Rogue. The three had teleported behind him, Shadowcat phasing his feet into the ground followed by Rogue attempting to drain him only to be interrupted by Toad once more using his tongue to whip them away. Avalanche pulled his feet out by using his power to shatter the earth holding him.

"Ah can't believe how strong they are now, they cover each other and fight like a real team now." Rogue yelled as Nightcrawler teleported the three away.

The three ended up by Storm and Wolverine who had just entered the battle. Summoning a bolt of lightening, the bolt hit Avalanche right on the chest sending him flying back as Wolverine let out a loud growl.

"Hold still bub," Logan growled out as Toad used his newly increased agility to dodge the attacks.

Storm looked over the Brotherhood with concern attempting to dissuade them from continuing, "Please stop this, because we don't want to hurt you. We just want you to stop this attack."

Wanda flung a hex bolt right at Storm, but was surprised that she managed to dodge the attack. Responding to the attack, Storm sent out a blast of wind attempting to blow her back and disable her. She stopped her attack when the plane reappeared this time releasing a barrage of laser blasts. Dodging them with skill, Storm summoned another bolt of lightning attempting to hit the plane only to find it had disappeared after dodging all of the shots.

"Over here, we need to regroup before that plane reappears again." Cyclops bellowed as everyone gathered near him.

Wolverine growled as he took another swipe at Toad, his frustration mounting. 'This kid is a lot faster than I remember him and his smell is really off. He smells even worse than before, but I'm still picking up a unique scent on him. Something isn't right here,' were his thoughts as he continued to press the attack.

Back on the plane Reaper waited patiently for reports, turning to the last person in the back of the plane. Glaring at the person wearing a black uniform he growled a little, he didn't like this person despite their service to the master.

"Remember the deal we have, you better leave my children alone. I'll get the girl just as we agreed." A feminine voice stated as Reaper growled not pleased with her comment.

Reaper ran forward grabbing her by the throat, growling a response, "Women finish your part and I will not harm your little demon spawns. However remember this that the price of failure is very high. You will move in as soon as I draw out the remainder of the insects hiding, so you will have as little resistance as possible. Surely you can handle a few low level mutants, and Xavier."

"I'm a shape shifter remember, I can sneak in as anyone or any animal. They won't even see me coming, I know exactly how to get in and out with the girl." Mystique stated as he released her and she shifted into the form of a bird flying out of the plane.

Reaper growled as she flew away, not pleased with the response he had received from her. He turned his back to the battle watching the X-men and Brotherhood go at, his grin getting bigger as his four troops continued to hold the X-men at bay.

'They have progressed well; the gene manipulation has really paid off well for these insects. The manipulation has increased their abilities, as has the training they have undergone. I still do not see the insect marine; it doesn't matter though things are proceeding smoothly. It is only a matter of time,' Reaper thought as he looked over the battlefield.

"Reaper, I want you to engage the X-men right now. That will surely draw out the remaining personnel; remember that you are not to kill anyone just draw them out. They will be given a chance to serve me, now go." the Master spoke his voice causing Reaper to nod in agreement.

"As you wish Master, beware X-men your peace has ended it is time for you to choose the salvation the Master offers or be exterminated by my power. A god can not be beaten by such insects," Reaper roared as the back of the plane opened up, causing the plane to drop its cloaking device.

Reaper jumped out of the plane, freefalling towards the X-men which had grouped together to assist each other. Using his gift of flight Reaper increased his speed; he was planning something big to get the attention of the X-men. He continued to fall, causing the fighting to stop and everyone to watch the falling object.

"What is that?" Iceman asked yelling as a hex bolt flew over his head.

Cyclops looked up, seeing the object and yelled, "Everyone get out of the way, that thing is heading straight for us."

The X-men took cover behind Jean's telekinetic shield and Colossus metal body. A huge boom was heard and dust flew up as the X-men looked at the crater that appeared on the ground. Staring at the ground the X-men looked on in shock, they watched as someone stood up in the middle of the crater. What shocked them more was the sheer sight of the man.

"Hello insects, I have come to give you an execution befitting your poor skills. What a bunch of weak insects, even those insect marines were more imposing than you. Perhaps you should be hiding; a battlefield is no place for weaklings like all of you." Reaper roared as they finally recognized who they were dealing with now.

"You are the one who attacked the marines stationed at NRI. The one that killed all of those people," Jean stated as everyone glared at Reaper's laughing form.

"Ah the red insect is very smart, yes I am the one who attacked that place and exterminated all of those pitiful insects. I see it as a mercy killing, only the truly strong deserve to survive after all." Reaper said as he pulled out his scythe, the Brotherhood gathering around him.

"Like what did you do to them? What could they have done to deserve this?" Shadowcat questioned yelling at the man while pointing at the Brotherhood in particular Lance.

"They existed that is reason enough; I am through with your questions little insects. The time of peace has ended for you; it is time to show you my power. I hope I don't kill you to fast, insects." Reaper roared as he charged forward his scythe out as he flew towards them.

Cyclops immediately responded firing a blast directly at Reaper from his visor. The blast almost collided with him when it missed, Wanda using her powers to alter the blast trajectory. The X-men scrambled as the Brotherhood renewed their attack, joined by their field leader now.

"Jean, look out, Colossus hit him hard." Cyclops yelled as Reaper slashed at her with his scythe only to miss because Shadowcat fazed them through his attack.

Colossus charged forward putting all of his strength into his charge sending Reaper flying backwards. He continued to go backwards, crashing through a few trees and a shed. Reaper looked at his hands, as he noticed blood starting to flow from a deep gash he had received. Looking upwards he noticed Storm flying over head staring at the man before releasing her own attack, a blizzard attempting to freeze him in place.

"You have power weather witch, I'm impressed but it will take more than a little snow to stop me." Reaper roared with anger as he flew straight towards her hitting her with his left fist causing her to fall to the ground quickly.

'They actually injured me, those insects actually injured me. These insects they have real power, not like the others. This is what my blood looks like; I've never seen it before. They will pay for this; I will show these insects that I am not meant to be messed with.' Reaper thought as he stood up as the X-men started to gather around him and his Brotherhood.

"Hang on Ro, I got ya," Wolverine barked as he ran underneath her catching her before she could fall on the ground.

Wolverine placed her on the ground carefully as Shadowcat and Nightcrawler ran over to her. The three disappeared in a puff of sulfur smoke as Wolverine looked up staring at Reaper. The two were completely alone, the other X-men being distracted by the Brotherhood. Their eyes locked as Reaper dove down beginning to dive bomb his opponent. Wolverine dove under the attack unleashing his claws attempting to slash his opponent. The two ran off, the Brotherhood blocking the other X-men from following the two.

"Bub, I really don't like you. Why don't you come down here so I can introduce you to something?" Wolverine growled as he showed off his claws.

Wolverine growled slightly as the grey skinned man stopped in front of him pulling out a vicious looking scythe. Releasing his own claws, the two clashed with each other as the staff part of the scythe blocked his claws from reaching their opponent. In an arching motion Wolverine attempted to slash the man, the scythe that blocked the claws fell apart as he sliced it to pieces with his claws. Reaper flew up avoiding the attack, not wanting to be close to the claws now that he had lost his only weapon.

"I don't have time for this, insect. Get out of my way, I want to fight the insect marine not you." Reaper yelled as he flew up charging down ward at Wolverine.

Reaper was about to fly right past when Wolverine rolled out of the way slashing upward hitting him in the midst of the flight sending him crashing to the ground. Blood poured out of his wound, the adamantium claws slicing through Reaper's armor and causing three distinct slash marks to appear on his chest. Grabbing his chest, Reaper raged in anger as blood dripped from his hand and onto the ground. Wolverine watched in shock as the man ripped a tree out of its roots, using it as a giant bat to fight him. Swinging the tree like a bat, Reaper watched as the man dodged out of the way.

"I've had enough of your tactics," Wolverine barked as he started to slice his way through the tree only to get hit by a large part of the tree.

"I have better things to do, but first a little pick me up before I face the other insect." Reaper stated as he grabbed Wolverine's bare arm while he was pinned under the tree.

Reaper smiled as his chest started to heal slowly the marks slowly beginning to heal. The blood stopped dripping out as the wounds sealed themselves, and eventually faded away as he released the man. Wolverine growled as he attempted to slice the tree off of him as Reaper flew up into the sky attempting to give him more time to heal while he searched for the insect marine.

Elsewhere a group of metal spheres opened as Magneto and his followers watched the pitched battle that was occurring. Sabertooth growled as he watched Wolverine and this new opponent duke it out amongst each other. Magneto's binoculars and vision narrowed as witnessed his daughter and the X-men fight each other.

"I eagerly await your commands," Exodus stated as he waited for orders from Magneto to act.

"Not yet, I want the best chance to retrieve my daughter as possible. I want her unharmed which is why you and Sabertooth will accompany me. The rest of you are to engage the other members of the Brotherhood and if necessary Charles' precious X-men. We will let them fight each other and when both sides have weakened each other then we will strike only after they have exhausted themselves." Magneto ordered as his acolytes nodded their heads in agreement.

Mastermind probed the Brotherhood carefully with his telepathy finding himself blocked from their minds just like Xavier was earlier. Shaking his head slightly, he pulled out trying to read the mind of the one that had fought Wolverine. He shrieked out in horror as he pulled out of Reaper's mind, shaking like a little baby from what he had seen there.

"What is wrong with you Mastermind?" Marrow asked a little concerned about the telepaths sudden out burst.

Mastermind sat down holding his knees rocking himself back and forth mumbling over and over again, "He is the reaper, he is the reaper."

"Hey boss can we go have fun yet, I'm bored." Pyro stated not even concerned about Mastermind.

Magneto looked at Mastermind before responding, "First I want to see how well this mysterious one fights against the X-men and anyone else sent against him."

Meanwhile inside of the institute, Brandon tapped his foot inside of the control room. Everyone inside were becoming increasingly nervous as Alan attempted to find the cloaked plane that seemed to be harassing the remaining defenses. He fired another shot, a few curses escaping his mouth as he missed again, but he grew deadly silent as he noticed something on the screen.

"Hey Doc, magnify area five, there is something wrong there." Alan stated his voice full of concern as Dr. McCoy pulled up the magnified image on the screen.

"Son of a …" Alan started as everyone turned to see the screen, "Brandon it's him, I can't believe that he is here. Based on his location, he is trying to flank your friends forcing them to either fall back or fall to the Brotherhood."

'He's here; finally I have my chance to avenge my fallen comrades. This time will be different, this time he dies. I won't stop this time, this time he will face all of my abilities. I'm going all out this time, this time that man dies here. He doesn't deserve life after everything he has done.' Brandon thought as everyone stared at the image on the screen.

"Hey Brandon are you in there? We going to get out there and help, or stay in here while they have all of the fun." Tabby asked as she looked at the young man's blank expression.

"Hmm, sorry this is a solo mission, which means I expect all of you to stay here and protect the Professor and the others. Reaper is my problem to deal with after all, its time to finish what he started." Brandon stated as he turned to leave the room.

Alan stood up and quickly grabbed his friends arm preventing him from leaving the room. The two looked at each other Alan reaching down and pulling out his Kabar knife and handing it to his friend.

"Here you might need this knife; it's saved my ass more times than I care to count. Do what you got to do, but make sure that bastard pays for all of those people he has killed. If you want I would be more than happy to follow you into battle, just like these friends of yours." Alan said as the two clasped hands looking at each other.

"Thanks but I need to handle this, the last time a group fought this guy it didn't go to well. I want to go all out, and the only safe way to do so is by making sure that no else is near me when I engage Reaper. Besides I need you here watching over things, including what we talked about earlier." Brandon replied as he attached the knife and its sheath onto his new uniform.

Alan turned back around taking his seat in front of the monitor as the others gathered around his friend. The man smiled as he turned his head slightly watching them carefully. Turning back around he kept his eyes on the monitor, tapping a few buttons to keep better tabs on the battlefield.

"We want to come with you; you told us that we are a team. That means you can't go off and fight alone because you are a member of this team. We all go or no one does," Sam said as everyone nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, you can't leave us here and go have all of the fun." Tabby stated keeping her upbeat attitude as Brandon looked at her intently.

"This isn't a game Tabby, I'm going to war and this is going to be a complete hellhole when the two of us start fighting. This is deadly serious; I fully intend to fight without holding anything back this time. If I hurt any of you because I went all out then I would never forgive myself. I consider some of you like family to me," Brandon replied as everyone looked at him.

Amara stepped forward kissing his cheek and then speaking her position, "We won't let you go alone because of that very fact. Let us worry about dodging your attacks if we have to, I promise we will do our best to help you defend the institute."

"I understand this is your home and you want to defend it, I can't deny you that right. We may very well stand a better chance of winning if we do fight together. I won't think any less of anyone that decides to stay here, this is going to be one hell of a battle. You should know that the chances of reinforcements from the X-men are very low. They are completely occupied by the Brotherhood. " Brandon said as he bowed his head slightly his head full of past thoughts.

"No way, I'm going to show this guy why he shouldn't mess with us." Roberto stated as everyone nodded their head.

"Okay, Sunspot, Magma, Cannonball, Boom-Boom, Wolfsbane, Jubilee and X-23 are coming with me. The rest of you, I'm counting on to protect the Professor and Alan. I'm also counting on you to protect Ms. Munroe until she recovers." Brandon said as the people he announced started to file out of the room.

The small group walked through the halls being stopped by a mental message from the Professor before riding the elevator to the ground floor. Thunderous sounds could be heard as the battle between the X-men and the Brotherhood continued over head. They all watched as the Professor wheeled out to talk to them.

"I understand your reasons, and I expect all of you to be careful while you are in the field. Follow Odin or Cyclops instructions while you are out there, and I expect all of you to return safely. Odin, please remember that while you may get what you desire here, it will not bring back those that have fallen." Professor Xavier stated as everyone nodded their heads in agreement, Brandon looking at the man.

"I understand Professor; I would never willingly place my teammates at risk. I will do whatever it takes to protect them; marines always watch their teammates six. As for Reaper, I understand that his death won't bring anyone back to life." Brandon replied as he looked at the Professor with a smile.

'If you can hear this Professor, I intend to kill him if I get a chance. No one else is going to die because of him; I will stop him this time. I will take any chance I get to kill him, so long as it doesn't place my team at risk. I understand your position though; I'll try to keep them from seeing his death and his body if I succeed, but that is easier said than done.' Brandon thought as the Professor nodded his head.

They all walked into the elevator riding it up, the mansion shaking a little from the battle outside. It was a quiet ride, and also very slow as they all stood there in the elevator. No one spoke as the elevator doors slid open, revealing the so far undamaged interior of the mansion. No one noticed a small rat running into the elevator as they ran out, everyone more concerned with the battle outside than the animal. The sounds of battle were louder now, as they followed Odin to the back door.

"Hey Odin why are we going this way, wouldn't going out the front be quicker?" Wolfsbane asked her Scottish accent coming through as they ran out the back door.

"If we went that way we would have to fight on their terms, we are going to be fighting on our terms. The fact is the X-men are holding the Brotherhood back, but if Reaper manages to flank them like I think he is then they are going to be in a world of trouble. They would have the Brotherhood in front and Reaper tearing through their right flank, not a good thing. We are going to intercept Reaper before he can flank them that way we are helping the X-men. Okay everyone this is what we are going to do…" Odin answered trailing off with a plan as they ran past the garden, heading for a small clearing.

'This isn't the best place but based upon his current location; this is the most likely place that he will head for since it appears to be a weak spot in our defenses. I never thought he would turn up here, but I need to get my priorities straight. My team first, revenge second if I get a chance to hit that bastard with a death blow. God grant me the power to end this permanently, so my friends can rest in peace and I can move on with my life.' Odin thought mentally saying a small prayer as they waited for the man to arrive.

Reaper flew through the air effortlessly, heading straight for the mansion since one of his goals still remained unfulfilled. The man stopped noticing a small group of people gathering down in front of him and the mansion. He hovered in the middle of the air floating down a little so they could see him.

"The insect marine, so you did survive our last encounter. I wonder if you remember all of those pitiful insects that I stepped on back at your pitiful base. These new insects look even less imposing than those other insects, so allow me to introduce myself. I am your executioner," Reaper barked as Odin glared up at him, seething in anger.

"I remember everything you did there, but believe me the results will not be the same. This time the only thing that dies here is you!" Odin roared as he fired a blast of energy at Reaper.

Odin fired off another blast of energy, Reaper dodging in the air as everyone seemed to watch the two go at it. Reaper flew down preparing to dive bomb Odin like he had done Wolverine but was in shock as he flew straight into an energy barrier blocking his path. The man careened to the ground as Odin smiled, motioning his hand forward.

"Let him have it, and be sure to watch out for each other." Odin yelled as everyone nodded in response.

Jubilee watched as her energy fireworks blinded the man, causing him to rub his eyes with his hands as everyone else moved into position. Reaper grunted as Cannonball charged past hitting him hard as Wolfsbane charged forward slashing at the man with her claws. Reaper howled in pain as Cannonball's attack hit home, the man's armor disintegrating upon contact. A streaming blast of lava and a large collection of time bombs were sent flying at Reaper growling as the red hot lava hit the man. Explosions went off the time bombs exploding around him, the man becoming even more irritated by the attacks.

"How dare you insects attempt to attack me, I am a god." Reaper roared as he charged directly at Magma and Boom-Boom for their last attack, his body scorched black from her attack.

"Hey Reaper did you forget about me?" Odin asked sarcastically as he moved in front of them firing a large blast of energy hitting Reaper directly in the chest with his attack.

Reaper collided with the ground spinning off even further as the New Mutants gathered around Odin. Reaper grunted as the wounds he had received earlier opened up again, this time caused by the combined attacks from them. Odin's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the blood from the man, everyone watched as Odin's eyes got bigger the shock starting to sit in from what he had seen.

'We caused him to bleed, I don't believe it. How is that possible, the last time I fought him, he was so powerful? He could have fought through the New Mutants, me, and still have plenty left for a battalion of marines. He's weak now; this is our chance to secure a victory. He fell right into our trap; we have to press the advantage while we have it.' Odin thought as he watched Reaper stand up slowly, the man glaring at him.

Reaper stood up a little blood dripping off of him as he started to fly up into the air. Everyone watched as he floated up there, then moving quicker than any one had expected. Odin watched as Reaper flew down moving at a fast speed heading straight for Magma and Wolfsbane. Everyone watched as Odin ran in front of the two trying to raise a powerful barrier to protect them. They watched as the barrier cracked as Reaper pushed through nailing Odin with a powerful right hook into his chest, the man sent flying back as Reaper nailed Wolfsbane with another massive right punch. Wolfsbane gasped for air as she collapsed to the ground watching the man approaching her slowly until Cannonball and X-23 forced him to back off. Magma ran off heading for Odin, everyone gathering around the two as they all glared at Reaper.

"Are you okay, you aren't hurt are you?" Magma asked her voice full of concern as Odin stood up his armor now showing a small crack from the attack.

"I'm good the armor held up from his attack very well, but…" Odin stated not finishing his comment as he raised a barrier suddenly to protect them all.

Everyone watched as Reaper had gotten right back up; angry about the attack the man had ripped a tree right out of the ground and used it as a projectile weapon. The tree wasn't held up long but it was long enough for it to be knocked away by Sunspot as Odin took a moment to catch his breath.

'He has to be getting tired; there is no way he can logically keep on going like this. He has pushed himself to his limits, now is the time for one of those special moves that I've been saving. If I'm lucky this might cause a lot of damage to him and end this attack.' Odin thought as he flung three energy blasts and smiled as his opponent dodged them.

"What's the matter insect, don't tell me that your aim is off from that last attack. I hope not I was looking forward to crushing you…"Reaper taunted as he was cut off by the energy blast coming back around nailing him in the back sending him flying forward.

Everyone watched as Odin fired another blast of energy hitting Reaper square in the chest as he was still struggling to regain control. X-23 growled as the man was sent colliding into the ground skipping off of it as he continued until hitting another tree. The others gathered around slowly surrounding the man as he grunted trying to get up as blood started to flow from his earlier injuries.

'Damn these insects, I wasn't prepared to face this many insects. The energy I received early wasn't enough to heal me completely, I'm at a disadvantage against all of these insects, and there is a problem we didn't anticipate. I never thought that the insect marine would be able to strengthen these pitiful insects like this; they were so weak in previous reports. There is still a chance; they are still young and naïve with the exception of the insect marine.' Reaper thought as he watched them slowly surround him.

"Hah, and to think I was worried considering all of the things Odin has told us. You don't look that strong now; if you ask me this is all over, why don't you give up?" Sunspot said confidently as he slowly approached the man, seeing the blood convincing him that the fight was over as he powered down.

"Don't think I'm beaten insect, I have more power than you ever will." Reaper grunted as a small smirk crossed his face as Roberto walked into touching distance.

Everyone watched in shock as a powered down Roberto was grabbed by Reaper, his face full of smiles as he fed on the young man. The New Mutants watched in horror as he threw Roberto down, the wounds he had received starting to heal slowly in front of them. Jubilee ran over to Roberto whose body had been tossed directly in front of them so everyone could see him. Roberto breathed in slowly; barely alive from the draining that Reaper had just done on him. Odin's eyes narrowed as his mind started to connect the dots, starting to understand his opponent's ability.

'That's how he was so strong, he feeds off of energy. He drains it from anyone he touches, that's why he was so strong then. He could have fed off of an entire battalion of marines, he would have been damn near invincible. His powers are completely dependent on the feeding off of someone to gain more energy. The more he feeds the stronger he becomes; I never saw that ability at NRI. Damn it, I was supposed to protect them, but how could I have known that, I didn't expect him to have a surprise ability like that.' Odin thought as his hands started to glow

"Odin, what should we do?" Jubilee asked as she and Wolfsbane dragged Roberto back to them as the others carefully watched Reaper.

"Okay listen up, try to stay out of his range from here on out. Wolfsbane and Cannonball you two will cover Magma. Boom-Boom and Jubilee you get Sunspot to the infirmary now. X-23, you and I are going to engage Reaper up close and personal." Odin stated as he gave out orders making sure that everyone carried them out as Reaper merely grinned at them.

Odin and X-23 nodded as Magma fired off another fiery blast attempting to cover them as Reaper charged forward. Odin dodged to the right firing off a couple of small energy blasts that detonated right on his chest as X-23 slashed at Reaper. The blast distracted Reaper enough as X-23 slashed again, this time striking across his chest, his armor starting to fall to pieces as she pressed forward. Wolfsbane growled slightly as she covered the long range attackers, every buying time as Odin started to gather energy for a more powerful attack.

"Damn you insects, I'm tired of this game. If it wasn't for the master's orders, I would eliminate you all." Reaper roared in anger as Odin started to smile realizing that he had just gained vital information.

'Wait his orders involve keeping us alive, that doesn't make sense. We are enemies; you don't keep your enemy alive unless he is a prisoner of war. Then again some how I don't think this guy would obey the Geneva Convention regarding prisoners any way. That means…' Odin thought as he started to piece together the plan that best fit the situation.

"Magma, X-23, Wolfsbane, and Cannonball return to the Professor immediately. I can't believe we just walked right into one of your traps. You should know that you won't achieve your objective, I've already anticipated your attempts to retrieve her." Odin stated as he stopped gathering energy for his attack.

"Odin, what's wrong? What are you talking about exactly?" Magma asked a little confused about the exchange of comments between the two.

Odin stood there carefully watching Reaper before answering her, "This whole battle was designed to draw out as many people as possible while someone infiltrates the mansion. We don't have interior defenses or enough people guarding those that stayed behind, and that is why the four of you must go back. You can leave the rest of this to me; you have done a great job. You soften him up for me, good job everyone."

"Alright I understand, be careful Odin." Wolfsbane stated as she let out a small growl at Reaper.

"Watch your back Odin; I'll make sure everything is okay down there." Cannonball added as he and Wolfsbane ran back towards the institute.

"How touching this is marine insect, but it's over right now." Reaper yelled as he charged forward only to be knocked away by two blasts of energy.

Reaper grunted in anger as he started to get back up, only to be hit by another blast of energy. He was sent flying back colliding into a tree, not moving for a few moments. He watched Odin carefully as he rested against the tree deciding regaining some energy would be more important than pressing the attack at the moment.

"You have to promise that you'll come back, I won't leave unless you do. Come back, I don't want to be alone like I was before, it may be selfish of me but it is the truth." Magma asked as Odin smiled at her enjoying the break in the battle with her.

Odin hugged her tight whispering, "I'll be right back, and I'm counting on you to protect everyone down there. Take care of things there, while I handle things here. I don't want things the way they were before either now go on and protect the others."

"I want to stay; I'm going to gut that man for what he did. I'm going to…" X-23 started only to be interrupted by Odin.

"I understand perfectly, you don't need to get your hands bloody on this one. I'll deal with this and you deal with whoever is down there." Odin replied as X-23 nodded in agreement, she could see the fire in his eyes as she started to leave.

Magma and a very reluctant X-23 ran off to join the others heading back down to the sublevel as Odin and Reaper sized each other up. The two started to fight once more, renewing the battle that had started at NRI. Energy blasts lit the sky as Reaper weaved in and out of the blasts as the two continued fighting each other. Back inside the institute Alan watched the battle unfold on the monitor as the door hissed opened revealing an injured Roberto along with his escorts. No one noticed a small animal run in as the girls helped sit Roberto down on a cot.

"Hey Doc, you can leave this to me. You better take care of those that are coming in injured." Alan stated as he coolly watched the X-men fighting against the Brotherhood, the stalemate still continuing.

"Thank you, I'll attempt to return after I stabilize Roberto. It might be a very time consuming matter however, if you require assistance please ask Charles." Dr. McCoy stated as he slowly walked over to Roberto.

Alan nodded his head, as Jaime, Paige and Dani all continued to talk amongst each other and with the Professor. Everyone was startled except Alan who continued to monitor the battle when Mystique finally appeared shifting back into her normal form. Alan turned his head noticing the problem, he stood up slowly not moving for his hidden side arms until he needed to as Dani, Paige and Jaime moved in front of the Professor. Jubilee and Boom-Boom covered the injured as they all recovered quickly from Mystique's arrival.

Alan smiled as he started to laugh a little, "This is going to be interesting, I've never fought a shape shifter before. Oh well lets skip the normal villain rant and get straight to the main event, a big ass fight."

They all watched as Alan moved quickly, he and Mystique started to fight in close range. Jaime and the others watched as the two continued to fight in hand to hand neither one having the definite advantage until Mystique nailed Alan with a swift kick to his shoulder. Alan grunted as the wound he received from Deadpool started to ache in pain as rolled away from her drawing his pistol.

"I have a good idea why you are here, but I want to know why he wants her so badly? Answer me, and you may still walk away from here." Alan yelled as Jaime, Dani, and Paige prepared to enter the battle between the two.

Next chapter: Prelude to War part 2

Brandon and Reaper fight it out in a massive battle between the two while the New Mutants attempt to intercept the intruder. Meanwhile the X-men are trying to disable the Brotherhood, while Magneto is patiently waiting to strike in the shadows; battle lines are drawn and a message sent telling everyone that a new power has emerged.


	18. Prelude to War part 2

**AN: I'm sorry that this chapter was so late; I've had a hellish time with my internet connection. I would also like to tell everyone that I have posted revised and rewritten chapters of 16 and 17. Before you read this chapter, you should check out at least 17 because there have been some changes to it. Remember to review the fic, now that I have good internet again the more motivation I receive the faster the updates will come.**

"Lady I'm not going to ask again, why are you here? I have my own thoughts, but I want to hear the truth from you." Alan stated as he took a deep breath his shoulder throbbing with pain as he waited for an answer.

"That isn't any of your concern, I just want her." Mystique replied as she pointed a finger at Dani, Alan moving in front of her before she could react.

"So I was right, well I'm sorry you can't have her. I went through to much damn trouble rescuing her from Deadpool. If you want her come and get her that is if you make it pass me." Alan said as he moved quickly the two starting to fight again.

Punches were thrown as Alan attempted to hit Mystique with a hard right until she dodged out of the way hitting him hard in his chest with a side kick. He grunted as he stood up about to renew his attack when a group of Jaime's duplicates appeared starting to fight with Mystique. He continued to smile as Paige tore off her skin revealing a metal skin underneath as she attempted to hit her harder. Alan was about to re-enter the fight when he fell to the ground, pain coming from his chest this time. A little blood appeared on his shirt as he grunted in pain struggling to stand up and fight again.

"Well damn, I can't keep this up. All of those damn injuries I got earlier are coming back to haunt me. How in the hell do you fight a shape shifter" Alan asked as the smoke started to clear the room, Alan and the others remaining close to Dani so she couldn't be captured.

No one said anything as they all scanned the room, no one finding anything except everyone who there before hand until Mystique shifted shape again appearing almost out of no where. Jaime and his duplicates charged forward, using the moves that he had learned to stand his ground again her until Mystique shifted into a much larger opponent. She had taken the form of Blob as she nailed Jaime sending him back; she pulled out a tranquilizer gun firing it at Jaime and his duplicates. Alan dodged out of the way, pulling Dani down with him, as he pulled out his own side arm.

"This is not going well is it?" Dani asked as Alan shook his head in disappointment.

"I agree," Mystique stated as she pushed Alan out of the way grabbing Dani as she tried to use a telepathic attack against her.

Mystique shrugged off the attack, hitting Dani with another dart before picking her up and beginning to leave the room. Alan dove forward knocking her legs out from under her, causing Dani to fall to the ground. Mystique growled as he picked Dani up, and ran over to the other side joining Dr. McCoy, who could now join the fight since Roberto had been stabilized. Alan placed her next to the other injured as he and Dr. McCoy prepared to fight Mystique. Professor Xavier watched over the injured his smile faded and his face full of worry as the battle started to rage again.

"Any ideas Doc, I'm not interested in letting this one have her way." Alan stated his eyes analyzing the room as he searched the room for an advantage to use against Mystique, and then reaching down to his chest, grabbing the place that had been injured fighting with Deadpool.

Dr. McCoy raised his hand to his chin seemingly rubbing the fur before responding, "I am afraid that I do not have a concrete solution to this problem, despite attempts to discover a way to detect Mystique when she uses her abilities. Since we are about to enter the field of combat however, you may call me by my codename Beast. However, I think you should rest, you can't fight any longer, particularly after not having much time to heal from your wounds."

'Then again he may be right; I may be pushing myself to much this time. The wounds I received from Deadpool are about to reopen if I go any further. I can't help them any more; I'm out of this fight for the time being. If I try any harder, I'll probably die.' Alan thought as he fell down to his knees, Dani and Paige helping him move out of the way.

Alan's eyes settled on the monitor as he watched the others also fighting in the battle. He bowed his head slightly as a sudden realization hit him, there most likely wouldn't be any reinforcements or assistance from the others. He lifted his head, as he watched Paige, Boom-Boom, Jubilee, and Beast the others were on their own and he couldn't help any more.

"You can rest, we will deal with this, and I did say that Jaime and I would handle this." Paige stated as her metallic skin reflected the small amount of light in the room.

"Fine, damn I hate missing a good fight. I guess there is always next time," Alan stated irritated about the fact that he couldn't fight any longer.

Meanwhile as the two faced off with Mystique, the X-men continued to deal with the improved Brotherhood, Cyclops again giving directions for everyone to regroup as he tried to formulate a successful strategy to push the Brotherhood back. He fired another blast at Toad, the agile mutant dodging him and responding with another shot of his green glob that was fortunately deflected by Jean and her shield. Everyone gathered around him, breathing hard as the fight had continued on for almost an hour.

"Man don't you guys get tired," Iceman commented as he formed an icy wall giving them some time to regroup while the Brotherhood broke through it or went around it.

"I'm sorry mein friends but I am very tired, I don't know how much longer I can continue this." Nightcrawler stated as sweat dripped off his face, he had been busy teleporting almost constantly since the battle had started.

Cyclops wiped away some sweat as he looked at all of the X-men; they were nearing there breaking point. None of them had to fight this hard since Apocalypse had been stopped; he rubbed his head as he came to a decision. He looked at the environment, deciding that he could use more help if they were going to manage to push them back.

"Jean, send a message to any one that is here that we need their assistance. We need more firepower if we are going to win this and push them back." Cyclops said as Jean brought her hand up to her head telepathically sending a message to all of the students.

'If any one is outside, then we need your help. We are fighting the Brotherhood to a draw but we need a little more if we are to push them back.' Jean thought as responses started to pour in from the others.

"Odin can't make it; he is busy fighting Reaper trying to keep him from out flanking us in his words. He says that he will try to make it as soon as he stops Reaper's advanced. Magma and the others are heading back into the institute apparently someone snuck in there while we were out there. I just got a reply from Beast, who is still inside; the others are busy dealing with Mystique. No one can make it here right now; we are all that is available at the moment." Jean stated as she went through the thoughts of the others.

Cyclops shook his head as the icy wall collapsed, he glared at the Brotherhood. He motioned his hand forward as Iceman joined him, the two of them firing together at the Brotherhood. Nightcrawler teleported the two out of the way as Blob came charging through, followed by a few tremors from Avalanche. Colossus and Blob locked hands as the two tried to determine which one of them was the strongest. Shadowcat phased through the two heading straight for Avalanche with Rogue, the two dodged straight into the dirt as a hex bolt flew past them.

"I will not allow you to hurt my comrades, why are you doing this?" Colossus asked as he continued to push finally managing to push Blob backwards.

"Its no use Colossus, they aren't talking to anyone. I can't even reach their minds; it's as if they are shielded by a powerful telepath." Jean said as she flew pass him sending out a telekinetic wave at Wanda, as Cyclops fired another blast from his visor at her.

The blast and the wave never made it as a wall of earth appeared blocking both attacks. Toad was about to respond by using his tongue as a weapon when Wolverine charged forward out of the bushes tossing him to the ground as his claws slid out. He charged forward again, attempting to finish off Toad until a hex bolt sent him flying backwards into a tree. Wolverine growled as he lifted himself off the ground, joining the remainder of the X-men in battle with the Brotherhood.

"I don't understand why you kids are doing this, but I really don't care any more. I'm going to…" Wolverine growled as Shadowcat was sent flying back from an attack by Wanda, causing the man to jump into the air and catch her.

He landed on the ground, quickly helped by Nightcrawler as he teleported the two away from Avalanche, who attempted to hit the two before they landed. Wolverine growled as the battle seemed to become more frantic on the side of the X-men, as every one was starting to grow tired of the ongoing battle. Shadowcat stood up, a little woozy from the bolt, but she continued to push on as they all ignored the pangs of exhaustion that was beginning to go throughout there bodies.

"I think they are starting to wear down, look they are stopping." Cyclops yelled as the four Brotherhood mutants seem to stop their movements, taking a break for a while.

Wolverine took in a deep breath, smelling the area as he started to growl picking up on a very familiar scent. He continued to growl as everyone felt a familiar magnetic pull go through the area, sending everyone to the ground as a familiar two metallic orbs appeared. Magneto floated into the area, sending out another wave this time pinning the Brotherhood up against the wall of the institute. His attack would have kept them pinned if a blast of energy hadn't been fired directly at Magneto, causing the master of magnetism to lose his focus and release the Brotherhood. Magneto glared as a man wearing a dark cloak walked into the area, he seemed to appear out of the shadows as he moved closer to everyone. Magneto glared as the man that wore the black cloak walked in between him and the Brotherhood preventing him from getting any closer to them.

"Who are you? What right do you have to interfere with my business?" Magneto questioned as he watched the man, glaring at him for intervening in his affairs.

The man laughed not even concerned with Magneto, "I am the one that has been watching and controlling this whole scenario. I am the Master and these are my weapons, they are mine to do with as I see fit. They are my weapons, and I have decided that they are worth keeping. So the question is Eric, do you dare oppose my power?"

"Master what kind of name is that," Iceman commented as he seemingly floated upward only to be tossed hard into the mansion in his ice form, the man laughing at him as the others watched in shock.

"Iceman, are ya okay?" Rogue asked, carefully watching as Magneto started his own attack against this new opponent.

Metal flew in the air as it floated next to Magneto until all of it seemed to be sent flying towards the man, his only reaction being a smile as the metal continued to approach him. They all watched in shock as an energy barrier appeared destroying all of the shrapnel before it could even hit its target. Magneto attempted another magnetic attack, until he was thrown aside a powerful telekinetic wave sending him flying to the ground.

"Sabertooth and Exodus go after my daughter, I will deal with this man personally," Magneto barked as the X-men watched the two sides fight, seemingly forgetting about them until the Brotherhood started to attack them again.

"Hmm really, this is all you brought to fight against me. Brotherhood you are to deal with these two, I will deal with Magneto," the Master stated as he walked forward seemingly uninterested in fighting the three.

Sabertooth lunged right at the man, attempting to rip him to pieces right from the beginning. Sabertooth barely managed to even jump in the air, before he just floated right there in the middle of his attack. The next thing that happened shocked everyone as Sabertooth went flying past Magneto and right into the X-men. Cyclops grunted as Sabertooth landed on top of them, as Shadowcat used her ability to pull him out from under the man. Sabertooth growled about to get up, when he took a few swipes at Cyclops for breaking his fall. Wolverine jumped over a few tongue attacks from Toad as he lunged at Sabertooth, the two starting to punch and claw at each other. The two renewed their old rivalry fighting each other with uncanny hatred as Magneto was left alone with the Master.

"I refuse to allow any one to surpass my power, you will not leave here alive. You are too much of a threat to be allowed to continue." Magneto stated as a metal creature was formed in front of his opponent, the creature attacking with an elongated metal claw.

The claw never made it to the man as it stopped right before, once again hitting the energy barrier before it could make contact with the Master. The metal melted away as the Master seemingly ignored the attacks, yawning as if he were bored with the man. Magneto let lose another attack from his metal creature this time not even managing to move it as the creature was destroyed by a missile from the mysterious cloaked plane that continued to appear and disappear at will. Magneto floated forward as the man he truly wanted started to walk towards the institute before being stopped by a few metal bars that floated in front of him.

"You are still intent on stopping me I see; I offer you the chance to join me. You could become a worthy general, your dreams of a world dominated by mutants could finally come true under my careful watch and cultivation," the Master said becoming annoyed by the man's constant interference with him.

Magneto floated in front of the man before replying, "I refuse to serve under anyone, I will be free and my dream will come true without your help. Humans and mutants can't coexist peacefully, but I also know that I can not coexist under you. I'm going to stop you and then take back what is rightfully mine."

"So be it then, I did offer you a chance to serve under me," the Master stated as he sent out his own telekinetic attack tossing Magneto aside and tossing him hard into the ground.

He continued pushing the advantage against the fallen man, throwing him back even further as Magneto struggled to stand up and regain the offensive. A bubble appeared around him protecting him from the attacks forcing him back, until a blast of energy appeared nailing him. Magneto reached out feeling the metal covering the man, but his attempts to crush the metal were in vain.

"I bet you are wondering why you can't crush the metal that I am currently wearing or using in my equipment. You should know that I have been studying you and Xavier for a very long time; I knew that eventually that I would cross paths with you and that the chances were we would not be allies. Upon careful research by my servants, I had this equipment constructed completely out of non metallic parts. I'm sorry for boring you, but I do like to rant particularly when I am going to win," the Master stated as he fired off another blast of energy as Magneto barely dodged out of the way.

The two continued to fight waves of metal being sent at the Master as the energy barrier melted it away before it could cause any damage. The man just stood there, not even expending any of his own energy to fight Magneto, he began to feel pangs of frustration as his attacks continued to fail. He roared in anger as he summoned all of the metal he could to create an even more massive metal creature, even larger than ones he had summon previously. The metallic creature towered over the battlefield, insight of everyone when it stomped forward. Magneto continued to glare at the man, the Master watched on a little shocked by the sheer power that his opponent displayed when pushed back against the wall. The giant claw was about to hit him when another missile appeared hitting the giant beast, as the cloaked plane appeared once more and then disappeared before it could be targeted. The creature lurched forward, barely damaged by the missile attack.

'This is becoming tiresome; I was not prepared for a display of this nature. Such sheer power, I did not expect this after what happened with him and Apocalypse. It seems he has grown even stronger than I anticipated, this could prove disastrous. Underestimating your opponent can be fatal; it seems I need to show off a little bit more power than a few parlor tricks.' The Master thought as he stared at the metal creature lurching towards him, not even moving as he closed his eyes focusing his own power.

The creature stopped moving, the two men using their abilities to cancel out the movement. It was stopped in its tracks, it couldn't move as the Master used his own power to keep the metal creature in place as the two struggled against each other. The two were in a battle of wills, trying to determine who could last the longest against each other. Magneto laughed as his opponent tried what appeared to be a telepathic attack against the man, only for it to be blocked by his carefully shaped helmet designed to prevent just such an attack from Xavier.

"It seems you didn't do as much research as you claimed, otherwise you would have known that you couldn't penetrate my helmet with a telepathic attack. You never stood a chance," Magneto stated until he was tossed aside by a blast from the plane that reappeared again launching an attack to distract him.

It only took that moment of distraction for the Master to dismantle the giant metal creature. Metal fell to the ground causing deep impacts as the two glared at each other, Magneto using the falling metal to his advantage. The metal that was falling stopped in its place, and then all of it was flung forward as the energy barrier appeared again to protect his opponent. Almost all of the metal was destroyed once more, with the exception of a small piece that appeared to pierce through the barrier.

"It seems that your barrier isn't as protective as it once was, could you be losing power." Magneto taunted as he saw the small piece of metal being tossed aside by the man.

"Perhaps but you shouldn't have done that, good bye Eric it's a shame we had to meet again under these circumstances. I still remember that little child from the concentration camp," the Master stated sending a chilling shock through Magneto's spine as he was tossed away by a massive telekinetic wave, tossing him through a few trees finally coming to a rest at the base of another tree.

'Well that seems to be done, now what should I do. So much to do and so little time, I know I'll watch the match between my Reaper and Henry's grandson. That should be most interesting after all; my message to Xavier can easily be sent through one of his pawns. Ah so that's were you are my weapon, you aren't very far now. I shall witness this battle personally,' he thought as he walked away, unaware that Magneto was still awake and not defeated as he originally thought.

Magneto stood up slowly, he had managed to slow his impact into the trees while causing them to splinter with his own magnetic powers. It had given the appearance that he had lost; the man floated upwards carefully following the man as he walked away. Both men arrived in a now barren area, the smell of burnt ground, grass, and flesh permeated the area as he watched the man lean against a tree watching two other people fight it out. Magneto watched immediately identifying the two men that were fighting.

'I see now, this could be very informative. I will watch for the time being as well, and when he least expects it I shall strike with so much efficiency that even he wont be able to survive it. I can't wait to see what Charles' pupil can do against someone like this, especially after the way he talked to me at our last meeting.' Magneto thought as he too took a hidden position watching the two fight one another, a combination of energy blasts being sent directly at Reaper.

"Is this all you have insect, I may be tired but I can still tear you apart." Reaper taunted attempting to play mind games with his opponent.

The two had been fighting for a while now, making their way slowly from the clearing to an area near the sea and along the cliff itself. The area that the two had fought in was nothing more than a burning pile of rubble, the two had literally destroyed everything in between the clearing and the cliff that they were now at. Ms. Munroe's garden also suffered from the battle between the two, a result from an errant blast from Odin attempting to eliminate Reaper in a single strike. Both men glared at each other neither one moving, both taking what appeared to be a short breather from the battle.

"Insect, you have grown much stronger, but you will lose. I am a god after all, I can not be beaten by anyone, and I have never been beaten by anyone that has opposed my master. You can not win; my victory has been preordained by the Master." Reaper barked as Odin started to laugh, not even frightened by what Reaper had just told him.

"A preordained victory huh, that's funny no one told me about it. In fact, the only preordained thing here; is the fact I'm not stopping until I kill you. Its time for you to pay for the lives you took at NRI, time for you to go to hell where you belong." Odin replied becoming more determined to avenge his comrades and to protect the friends that he had here at the institute.

"You are determined to defeat me insect, but your insect friends were also equally determined to stop me at that foolish research center. That one in particular rushed me, trying to save your miserable life, I wonder was he a friend of yours. It will take more than determination and words to stop me. I am a go…" Reaper roared in response but was interrupted with a direct energy blast to his face before he could finish what he was saying.

"Yeah we all get it now you are so delusional you think that you are a god. I'm tired of hearing about that; you are no where close to being a god. How dare you belittle my friend's sacrifice, Johnson may have been human but he was my friend and you will die for that." Odin commented as he glared angrily at Reaper's annoyed expression from being blasted in the face, his face burning a little from the impact of the blast.

'It's almost sunrise; that plays to my advantage. My powers regenerate quickly when the sun is out, but he is far from finished despite the injuries that he has received, he still continues to fight. If the others hadn't have helped me earlier, I doubt I would have even scratched him. Thanks to them, he was weakened enough that he could be injured by my blasts.' Odin thought as Reaper ran towards him as he rolled to the right and under a strong kick that had been sent at him.

Odin rolled out of the way of Reaper's close combat moves, the punches and kicks missing him completely as he sent his own kick out taking advantage of an opening that had happened from Reaper's attacks. He rolled away after kicking the man, hitting Reaper physically felt like he had hit a ten feet thick concrete wall; he ignored the pain in his leg as the two stopped again. Odin took a deep breath, the sun was about to rise, and then he would have more of an advantage. He looked on as Reaper's skin had black smoke rising from it, his skin being burned from the impact of a very powerful energy blast that he had recently used. Pushing forward Odin started to gather more energy, deciding to use another laser like strike to punish his opponent further.

"I'll make sure that you don't go any further than this, no one else will be hurt because of you." Odin replied as the energy began to crackle around him as Reaper flew forward.

The flight didn't last long as Reaper literally went on a kamikaze run charging straight through a hastily placed barrier and then unleashing a combination of punches and kicks before Odin was ready to fire off his own attack. A powerful kick sent Odin into the ground, as he skipped off the ground; he hit the ground twice before coming to a rest on the ground. His armor fell to pieces around him, the protection having been used up completely in the combination of attacks; Odin had taken the full force of the kick that he had recently received.

"Damn it, I didn't have enough time. Guess that means there is only one choice left, I am not going to lose here." Odin mumbled to himself, he stood up slowly only to fall back to the ground.

"Ah is it over already, did I break you this soon. We've only been fighting one on one for twenty minutes, and I've already broken you, what a shame. Pathetic insect you deserve to be exterminated." Reaper said viciously as blood began to drip from Odin's mouth and chest.

Reaper continued to walk towards him, seemingly unconcerned about him now. Odin grinned as he gathered all of the remaining energy he had left; this was going to be his last stand against Reaper. The blood caused his vision to blur a little as he used his right hand to toss the blood aside causing it to land on the ground. Reaper grinned as he moved even closer, finally grabbing Odin by his neck, raising him up and off the ground.

"I win insect," Reaper gloated as he held the man up until energy began to crackle all around him forcing him to let go of his grasp around his opponent's neck.

"No, you lose; all I hope for is that you die the most painful death possible." Odin stated as Reaper watched the energy seal the area off, he could no longer escape as the energy started to take on the form of lightening.

Odin floated up towards the center of the energy storm, the lightening becoming even worse as Reaper attempted to fly through it. He dodged the lightening weaving in and out of the attacks that had been sent his wave. He stopped suddenly when he realized that it had become hopeless to dodge the attacks, Odin glowed brightly as he released his remaining energy in the form of a massive energy wave. Reaper glared as he realized that there would be no dodging this attack, and that he would have to take the full brunt of the attack.

'This is not possible, how an insect like this can command such power. The Master, he must have known the insect had a potential for such power, which is the reason behind this test. Such power, I've never fought an opponent like this before. He is no longer an insect; he is a real threat to the Master. He must be eliminated now before he can grow any stronger.' Reaper thought as he flew straight into the wave forcing his way through the attack.

Reaper roared in pain as the attack inflicted heavy damage, not only on him but also the surrounding area. What remained of the grass, the trees, even pieces of the ground itself was being destroyed by the energy attack that had been unleashed. Reaper and Odin both careened to the ground, neither one having any energy left to fight. The attack had taken its toll on Reaper, his skin burning and searing in pain. Both opponents landed hard onto the ground that had remained, it being scorched black from the attack. Each fell a significant distance from each others as the two just laid there exhausted, barely conscious from the battles that they had just fought.

'Did I get him, is he dead? There's no way he could have survived that, but I don't know for sure. I have to make sure that he is no longer a threat. Please just a little more strength, just enough to stand and fight one last time in case this isn't over. Just a little more,' Odin thought as he attempted to stand up, but collapsed back onto the ground his chest still throbbing a little from his kick earlier and the fact that he had used up almost all of his energy.

Reaper wasn't in much better shape, the man who called himself a god remained in the crater he had landed in. He grunted in pain, the energy wave had literally burned his skin from grey to black. The injuries to his body were great as well as he coughed up blood from the attack, his wounds now bleeding badly as he looked around the area. The man looked up to what remained of the stars as the sun slowly started to appear. Dawn had finally arrived, the man covering his eyes with his hand blocking the light from blinding him. He couldn't believe what he saw as the Master walked towards him, his face a mixture of disappointment and pleasure at what he had just seen.

"Master forgive me, I have failed you. He is strong now; I must eliminate him for you. He is a threat to you and your existence." Reaper said as he continued to lay there, the pain sending cold shocks through his body.

The man stopped in front of Reaper, slowly lifting him out with his own ability. He carried him gently in the air, as the two went over to where Odin had landed. Odin grunted as he tried to get up, but only collapsed back onto the ground. He glared at Reaper, not even realizing who the person that seemed to cause him to float in the air was, or why he was there. Odin smiled as he looked at Reaper's bloody and beaten body, as he too was lifted out of the crater by the man's power.

"You did well my servant, I was curious of how strong Henry's grandson had become. You wield a great power young man; I offer you a chance to serve me. If you serve me your power will grow even stronger, and I will offer you the truth that your grandfather has so discreetly hidden from you. I offer you…" the Master said but was interrupted as Odin started to laugh, seemingly amused by what was being said.

'This is the guy responsible, I can't see his face. All I see is this dark cloak, as if he is invisible. Ah the sun, I need a little more time to gather at least enough energy to attempt to kill this bastard as well. I can end it all right here,' Odin thought as he rested, allowing the man to use his ability to hold him up and in place continuing to laugh at the man and his offer.

"I don't care if you offer me the world on a golden platter, the moment you killed my friends we became enemies and there will be no peace for you. I will not join you, I don't care what you offer, because I'm the guy that is going to kill you. I won't stop until you are dead as well, my friends require justice for what happened there at NRI and you are just as much responsible for what happened at NRI as your servant that fought there." Odin commented his laughing stopping as he glared at the man.

"What has Xavier done to earn such loyalty from you? He is a weak man, a man who denies the true nature of the world. This world is an endless cycle of battles; I'm going to end that cycle. If you come with me then you shall finally gain the peace that you desire. I offer the peace that you so desperately seek, as well as answers to the secrets that your grandfather has hidden from you." The Master responded still attempting to persuade his opponent to become his ally.

"I don't need to explain my reasons of following Xavier to you, you have no respect for what a marine or a soldier is. The only thing I can tell you for sure is that it will be a cold day in hell when the three of us are on the same side." Odin replied his anger becoming apparent as he was tossed to the ground, he never made it to the ground though as he floated in the air once more.

Odin turned his head nearly in shock by the man that had seemingly come to help him. Magneto had arrived to assist him; he fell onto his knees breathing heavily after Magneto had carefully sat him down on the ground. The four men glared at each other in anger, it seemed that none of them had expected this turn of events as Odin looked at the much older mutant that had assisted him.

"I would say thanks for the help, but I still don't trust you or like you for what happened with Piotr. For the time being though, I think I'm going to need you to stop these two. We may not agree on many things, but on this one issue we both do. They have to be stopped," Odin commented attempting to forge an alliance with the man to fight the two that stood against them.

"I agree with your assessment of the situation, but I do not need your help to stop these two. I am more than enough, and I believe that you two are to badly injure to continue this fight. What should I call you; I'm no longer certain if you are one of Xavier's students based upon the way you fight your enemies?" Magneto said realizing that the two needed to help each other in order to survive despite the weaken conditions of Odin and Reaper.

"Odin, that goes for you two morons as well, you can call me Odin. I may not be as strong when this battle first started, but I still have enough strength to fight that bastard." He said pointing towards Reaper as the two started to walk and in his case limp towards there opponents.

Reaper didn't hesitate to attack his Master flinging him forward with his own ability. Odin watched as Reaper approached him quickly, he didn't have time to react as Reaper reached out grabbing him with his right arm. He ripped away the remainder of the uniform, revealing Odin's bruised chest as he prepared his right hand to feed on him and regain some power.

'So you think that you are going to feed on me just like Roberto. I don't think so this time you bit off more than you can chew. Pay back is a bitch; this is going to be for Johnson.' Odin thought as he stared at the holes in Reaper's hand that he used to feed, reaching for the knife that Alan had given him.

Odin motioned Magneto off with one hand, reaching down and pulling out the knife that he had been given. It glimmered slightly in the sun as Odin stabbed the weapon right into his right hand, right where the mouth he used to feed on people was. The knife cut through the mouth, the soft flesh inside of it being torn apart by the knife. Reaper screeched in pain as he dropped Odin, ripping the knife out and tossing it aside the knife bouncing off of the ground, coming to a rest on the remains of a burnt tree. Magneto and the Master who were both about to start their battle over again, stopped as they both turned interested at what they had just witnessed.

"Well I think that my point has been made, give this message to Xavier. This is the last chance that he will have to join me, any more interference on his part and there will be nothing to stop us from eliminating him and the X-men. Give him that message, grandson of Henry Ayers, we will be meeting again very soon until then," the Master said as he used his abilities to cause Reaper to follow him, the injured mutant still screeching in pain.

The two disappeared into the trees, as Odin fell to the ground once more. Odin could hear Reaper cursing his name as he finally disappeared completely from view and they could no longer here the two. Magneto floated upwards intent on retrieving Wanda before they could extract the Brotherhood. Odin attempted to stop the man before he could float away, nearly grabbing his cape with his left hand while covering his chest with the right one. He collapsed onto the ground, the lost of adrenaline and energy to much for him as he passed out.

"Hmm you are a powerful one, but I think this time I owe you one." Magneto whispered softly as he used his power to cause the young man to float upwards as he started to fly away from the battlefield.

Magneto watched with amusement as the X-men forced the Brotherhood back. Blasts of ice and energy from Cyclops forced the Brotherhood to retreat, as Colossus used his hulking form once more to toss Avalanche and Toad back. Exodus fought Wanda with uncanny skill, but it only took a moment's distraction to allow the Brotherhood to fall back further this time to the plane where the Master and Reaper awaited them. Smoke bombs covered the area, causing the Brotherhood to stop fighting against the X-men. The X-men stopped fighting as the Brotherhood boarded the plane quickly covered by the smoke, the plane took off dropping more smoke bombs and a large canister that emitted a loud noise causing everyone even Magneto to cover his ears. The plane disappeared as it reactivated its cloak, leaving a glaring Magneto and his Acolytes behind.

"We are leaving now, here X-men I have a present for you. I could have easily kept him, but he may very well be more trouble than he is worth." Magneto stated as he and his followers disappeared as well entering the metal orbs that carried them there, Odin's collapsed form falling to the ground from a high drop.

"Jean," was all Cyclops said as she used her telekinetic ability to catch him before he could hit the ground.

"Nightcrawler get him to the infirmary now, Colossus go with them in case Mystique is still down there. They might need some muscle; the rest of us will make sure that all of the uninvited guests have left the area." Cyclops said as the others nodded carrying out the orders as a puff of sulfur smoke went into the air from the teleportation.

Back inside of the institute Mystique had her hands full, even with Alan being unable to continue fighting against her. The shape shifter growled slightly as she used her superior hand to hand training against Beast. His agility and strength proved to be too much for her, and the two continued to fight. No matter how close she got to Dani, she never got close enough to capture her. The fight continued despite the fact that she had been heavily outnumbered from the beginning. The remainder of the Professor's New Mutants had arrived and taken a defensive position next to Dani preventing Mystique from reaching her. Mystique stared at them, her frustration mounting as she pulled out a Beretta pistol. She never got a chance to fire the weapon, Alan opening fire first. Two bullets grazed her right shoulder causing her to drop the pistol, as she screamed in pain.

'Damn Reaper, he was supposed to keep them occupied. I can't win against this many opponents, four or five maybe, but this many I don't stand a chance. I may be protected against telepathic assaults, but I doubt I could survive a combined effort from two or three telepaths. I'll have to pull back, damn it,' Mystique thought as she shifted form again, this time into a bird and flying away from everyone.

Alan smiled as he stood up slowly, taking his time as he stood up when a puff of sulfur permeated through the room. Everyone watched as Kurt and Piotr placed Brandon on an infirmary bed, small amounts of blood and bruises covering his body as everyone looked at him. Amara ran towards him, grabbing his hand trying desperately to wake him up. She stopped though when she felt him squeeze her hand, his way of telling her that he had survived.

"Oh my, I haven't seen injuries of this scale in a long time. I'm sorry but I'm going to need you all to leave the immediate area so I can give him a full check up." Dr. McCoy stated as he started to look Brandon over, then grabbing a few advanced medical tools to use on him.

"Don't forget you promised me Brandon, I'm holding you to it." Amara said as she let go of his hand, as an IV was inserted into his left arm.

"He'll be just fine, trust me. He may look like the hell got beat out of him, but I would hate to see the other guy. Brandon can be downright nasty when someone threatens him or those he cares about. Brandon is just too damn stubborn to die, beside he rarely makes a promise he doesn't keep. Hey Doc, when you get the chance I need you to check my prior injuries, I think that bi…uh now that I think about I could use a nap while I wait for the Doc." Alan commented covering for himself when he remembered that Mystique was Rogue's and Kurt's mother.

Dr. McCoy shook his head, waving his hand that he was still occupied with the injuries that Brandon had received. The others nodded as they all started to smile and cheer the battle seemingly over for now. The X-men slowly returned as well, all of them exhausted from fighting against the Brotherhood for such a long period of time. Jean and Scott leaned their heads against each other sleeping against a wall since there weren't nearly enough beds in the sub basement. The rest gathered around taking infirmary beds or in a few cases mimicking others like Sam and Tabby resting peacefully against each other. Ms. Munroe rose up from her bed peacefully, finally fully recovered from the attack she had received from Reaper.

"Oh my, has the battle ended already, is everyone okay?" Ms. Munroe asked as she went around checking on all of the students, she being one of the most rested ones.

Nearly everyone slept through her comments; they had been pushed to their own exhaustion. The only answer she received came from a very pale Professor Xavier, as she noticed Logan preparing to leave the room. Logan wasn't nearly as affected by the events as the Professor; the man leaving the room to search the grounds once more to insure there weren't any left over visitors.

"Everyone is just fine Ororo; Brandon was injured fighting Reaper again. He seems to be doing well now however; Roberto got the worse of it all. According to Logan, Reaper can drain energy, and that was used against Roberto; everyone else seems to have gotten off lightly except for those two. While Roberto is stabilized, he has yet to awaken from what ever it was the Reaper did to him. This battle has brought up a number of issues that we are going to have to deal with later, for now though we should allow them to rest. They have certainly earned this rest." Professor Xavier answer, he was a bit more pale than usual and his face seemed to show a very worried expression on it.

Ororo nodded slightly as she grabbed some blankets, placing them over the sleeping forms of the students and X-men alike. She smiled as she watched Scott and Jean seem to sleep peacefully. Her attention turned to Amara, who had taken a chair next to Brandon. She leaned against his bed as he rested peacefully, only an hour had passed since Dr. McCoy had finished. She stayed close to him, not even moving as he slept peacefully. She placed her head on a side of the bed, not even closing her eyes when she felt a blanket being wrapped around her.

"I know young love when I see it, but that doesn't mean that you can neglect yourself child. Now why don't you get some rest, I'll wake you up when he wakes up." Ms. Munroe said her caring voice only getting a nod from Amara as she also went to sleep joining the others.

Everyone rested peacefully, but the flight back for the Brotherhood and Reaper wasn't nearly as peaceful. Reaper roared in pain as one of the servant's started to treat his wounds. He roared in pain again, as a needle was shoved into the injured part of his right hand.

"Odin, I won't forget that name. I'll feed on an entire city the next time that I intend to meet you. Next time you will join a very long list, the list of casualties that I have caused. You will be the next one to die," Reaper roared as he again cursed the name of the man that had injured him.

The servant turned away, returning his focus to the Master, bowing slightly before speaking to him, "I'm sorry Master, while the damage to his skin will heal when he feeds next time; the problem with his right arm can not be taken care of by us and are current technology. The wound seems to be deeper and much more permanent than any of us had expected, it seems the knife had a special metallic coating that caused more internal damage than a normal knife would have caused. Forgive me for our failure, Master."

"No matter, we accomplished two out of the three goals; it seems Mystique failed due to Reaper's inept ability to handle the battle this time. It seems I will have to make a few alterations to my plans, contact an old friend of mine, I am certain he will be able to deal with the injuries that my weapon has received. Reaper is a worthless weapon to me in this state." the Master stated as he showed a picture of a white skinned man with glowing red eyes.

"Of course Master, as you wish," his servant responded as the Master returned his focus to video footage of the battle that had been acquired by the US military from a spy satellite.

'It seems quite a few alterations to my plan are needed, I never expected this. It is impossible for me to accurately predict events to 100 percent accuracy. A good general does good to predict a few moves of his opponents, but the best predict five or six moves in advance. I am not pleased with what happened to my prized weapon; however there are more than a few bright spots on the horizon. It seems that I underestimated a few things, but now that I have more accurate information that makes me all the stronger.' He thought as he watched footage of Odin and the New Mutants fighting against Reaper.

Next Chapter: Restoration

Everyone enjoys some r and r while a few people remain in the infirmary to recover from their injuries. While everyone relaxes though,an important meeting of theJoint Chiefs is occuring andthey are desperately searching for an answer to the growing mutant population.


	19. Restoration

**AN: Well this took a bit longer than I orginally had hoped. I'm hoping this turns out well, because I am not having a very good week so far regarding my school work and other problems. I hope you all enjoy the chapter, and hopefully I'll do a better job of posting in the future. Remember to respond, I've noticed reviews are down somewhat and that does help me move faster. **

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Amara walked down the hall carefully, the mansion for the most part had been undamaged in the attack. She turned her head noticing that Tabby and Jubilee both joined her as the three of them walked down the hallway together. Most of the mansion was however still recovering from the attack that had happened less than two days ago.

"Hey Mara, how's that boyfriend of yours doing? Has Dr. McCoy let him out of the infirmary yet?" Tabby questioned, teasing her a little while they continued down the hall.

Amara's face became a bit more colorful, before responding, "He's going to be fine physically, but he is still confined to his bed until tomorrow. Mentally and emotionally though, I think he is wiped. Seeing Reaper again brought back a lot of bad memories and being his usual self he blames himself for what happened to Roberto. At least he's better off physically than Alan, he's really mad that he is going to be confined to the infirmary for another week."

"That's good to hear, I'm glad to hear that physically he is dong well. I'll leave the mental and emotional problems in your capable hands Mara, so what should we do today? I think that its time that we girls hit the mall, no boys just us." Tabby replied giggling a little as Amara started to blush a little as the three walked down the hall.

"Yeah, we need to go out and have some fun. I wonder if any of the other girls would be interested in going." Jubilee commented as the three started to laugh as they walked down the hallway.

"Well we can always ask them, come on lets go." Tabby said as she grabbed her best friend's hand dragging her along.

"Okay I'm coming to, there's no need to drag me there. I want to go any way, I need some new clothes and I need to pick out presents for my parents." Amara replied as the three made their way into the lobby, where Rahne, Noriko, Paige and Jaime were talking.

"Hey you three want to go to the mall, sorry Jaime this is a girl's only trip." Jubilee said as she interrupted their conversation about fixing the outer grounds of the institute.

"Okay, I need to get some new clothes any way. I have a hard time getting good clothes for these uh, what's the word, oh yeah bulky gauntlets." Noriko asked a little hesitant to use her limited English vocabulary.

"Well I'll go to then, what about you Rahne?" Paige asked as Rahne shook her head no.

"I can't go, I'm expecting a call from me ma. She wants to know how things are going here, and I have to make sure no one tells her about the attack or she might make me come home again." Rahne answered as she left the room, waiting patiently for her phone call from home.

The girls started to laugh again as they headed to see Ms. Munroe about borrowing the van for a shopping trip. They all headed outside, stepping over burnt ground as they went. They all found her hard at work replacing the garden that had been destroyed by Brandon during his fight with Reaper. They stopped for a moment as she wiped away some sweat before she continued to work, before she noticed them.

"Ah hello there girls, how are you doing today?" Ms. Munroe asked her calm and polite voice still there despite the loss of her precious garden.

"We are just fine; we wanted to borrow the van so that we all could go to the mall." Tabby answered getting straight to the point before the others could comment.

"Okay, but remember that you have to be back in four hours, the Professor wants every one back early. He is still concerned about the attack that happened recently. In fact he has been a bit more cautious than usual as of late. So be back by then, and don't forget to have fun." She replied as she walked over to a jacket that was on the ground.

Ororo smile continued as she dug through her jacket pockets and tossed the keys to Tabby. They were all about to leave when Amara stopped this time to say something to her, as she started to get back to work.

"Brandon's really sorry about your garden, he didn't mean for it to happen. He feels really bad about it; he said that he would be glad to help when he is feeling better. As soon as he feels better, he said that he won't stop until your garden is exactly like it was before." Amara said a sad smile on her face as she thought to a small conversation she had with him earlier in the morning.

"I see, thank you for passing along the message, but it's not his fault. He was trying very hard to protect everyone; but thank you for passing along the message." Ms. Munroe commented her warm smile causing Amara to cheer up.

"Come on Mara, time to go to the mall. We are burning time, and I want to see if there are any good CD's out." Tabby said as she grabbed her, pulling her away from the garden as they all walked towards the garage.

The girls were all smiles as they headed into the garage, not realizing that Bobby, Ray, and Sam were watching from far away. Sam watched as Ray and Bobby continued to spy on them as Jaime caught up with them. The young man had been acting as a spy for them, using his less than imposing figure to his advantage.

"So where are all of them going?" Ray asked curious about the girls and where they seemed to be heading.

"The mall, it's a girl's only trip, so I wouldn't be planning on going there." Jaime said cautiously warning the three not to go to the mall.

"Hey it's a free country besides I think we have something better to do any way. Let's go play some basketball at the park, so who wants to come?" Bobby replied as the other three looked at him.

"Count me in, after everything that has happened I could use a break." Sam commented as he walked away from the three grinning guys.

"Come on boys; let's see if there is anyone else interested in playing." Bobby said as the others just nodded there head and followed him.

The van was full of giggling girls as they drove down the road, taking the long way to the mall instead of the short way. Everyone was laughing as they traveled down a small road, eventually arriving at the back entrance to the mall. As they poured out of the van, they all ignored the staring eyes of the people that were already there. It didn't take the group of girls long to make their way to the entrance, so far avoiding any harassment by any one.

"Okay we'll do clothes first and then hit the music store, besides we need to help Noriko out. Those jeans and t-shirts just aren't cutting it girl." Tabby teased her usual fun loving personality coming out as she pointed at some clothes in the window.

"Uh I just don't think those are me, I uh…" Noriko started as she looked at the short black skirt, she didn't wear clothes that revealed a lot of skin.

"Why not, if you are ever going to get a guy interested, you got to flaunt a little skin. Isn't that right Mara?" Tabby said as the girls entered the store, all of them beginning to look through the racks of clothes that were there.

"I guess, but why don't you find clothes that you want to wear Noriko." Amara commented as she pulled a skirt with flowers printed on it off the rack.

The girls laughed as they continued to try on clothes, all of them enjoying the atmosphere as they went along the various racks of clothes. Tabby pulled off a couple of shorter numbers holding them against Noriko as Jubilee and Paige nodded or shook their heads in approval or disapproval. They continued to try on clothes, as time started to go by slowly as they started to enjoy themselves.

"Hey Mara, what do you think of this one? I bet it would put Brandon in a coma," Tabby said as she pulled out a very short blue denim skirt.

"Maybe, but it's not the kind of thing I would wear. I have to find something a bit more appropriate, we only have three weeks until fall break and that's when I'm going home to see my parents." Amara answered as she looked at a white t-shirt, as the two continued to pull out clothes.

"Hey look at that, I think Noriko found something she liked. Well after we finish here, we should go grab some food, I'm getting hungry." Jubilee said as she interrupted the two, the girls laughing as they heard her stomach rumbling.

"Okay, Jubes, hey Mara now that I think about it, why are you going home now? You've been here for four years, and all I've seen you do is send letters home through some kind of messenger that the Professor set up for you. Why all of a sudden do you need to go home?" Tabby questioned curious as to why her friend needed to make a trip home now.

"I have something I need to do, and well I want to introduce Brandon to my parents. There are a few other things that I need to do as well, while I am home, it may be a long time before I will be able to return again. If I am allowed to return," Amara said as she made sure her last words remained unheard by the others.

"Can we uh pay for these now; I'm kind of hungry as well." Noriko stated as she gave her money to the others, hiding behind them as they paid for it.

They watched as the cashier slowly handed them their change and the bags full of clothes, quickly leaving the store as they headed towards the food court. They took a seat carefully at one of the many food stores, all of them making their own decision of what they wanted. Amara took a seat at the place where she and Brandon had first talked alone, remembering the conversation causing her to smile.

"So what is making you so happy, thinking of good memories with a certain someone? How is that going, you two always seem to be enjoying having each other around? So is he a good kisser, have you gotten to see what he looks like underneath that uniform, come on girl spill the details." Tabby said as she bombarded Amara with questions and comments wanting to know more about the two's relationship.

Amara looked around carefully noticing the others were placing their orders for food before answering, "Well we do enjoy being with each other, he is always giving everything he has to make sure I'm happy. I enjoy being with him, and yes he does look very good out of uniform, but I'm sure you know exactly how I feel after all you are going out with Sam."

"Hey how did you know that, I thought you were to busy with Brandon to notice. We've been sneaking around so much I didn't think any one noticed with the exception of Logan, Jean, or the Professor. So you two have been going out for a while, how far have you two gone exactly?" Tabby said keeping her voice down for once to keep others that were far away from hearing her.

"Uh well that's, hey look the others are back with the food. Great timing, I'm hungry to, thanks for getting the food for me Paige." Amara stated as she skillfully dodged the question, hoping that her best friend wouldn't press the issue any further.

'Hmm Amara wants me to drop this, oh there is something big going on between her and Brandon. Okay I'll let it go for now, but later I'm going to get some answers out of her or him. I wonder if they would have…oh no way, she did get back late. She didn't get back to the room until about an hour or so before the attack started.' Tabby thought as she started to put the pieces together.

"So what should we do now, I'm not big on American music. I would much rather go walking around and look at this place, this is only my second time in the city." Noriko commented as the others continued to eat the food that they had ordered, fries, salads, and hamburgers crowded the table as the five girls continued to eat.

Jubilee sighed as she took another drink of her diet coke, the others could tell that she wasn't in the best of spirits. Jubilee's vision shifted as she saw a blur in her eyes, for a moment she could swear that she had just seen Bobby watching them. Tabby in her usual manner hopped out of her chair, deciding what they needed to do was go have more fun. It didn't take long for the girls to attract attention, a few guys staring at them from the corner.

"Hey Jubilee is something wrong, you don't look very happy?" Paige asked as she took a drink from her own coke.

"I know exactly what her problem is, she needs a date. What do you think of those three guys at the table? That one in black hair is kinda cute, if I wasn't…" Tabby trailed off as Jubilee looked over at the table, three young men eating their meals quickly.

"He's kind of cute, but he isn't the person I want or…" Jubilee started as Paige interrupted her, a smile on her face as she finished Jubilee sentence.

"Or have a crush on, you still hope that Bobby is going to come around to his senses. My brother said that Bobby, while a good prankster and friend can be a little dense." Paige finished as Jubilee nodded, her usual attitude had disappeared as she sat there.

Tabby smiled as she thought up a way to change the conversation, "Oh really speaking of relationships Paige, what about all that time you spend with Jaime. I've noticed that you have been spending a lot of time with him lately."

"Well Noriko, Jaime, and I are about the same age. Jaime and I also have a lot of classes together, and it helps to have someone that can help me with homework occasionally." Paige replied as she attempted to justify the time that she was spending with Jaime.

"Really, I don't think that is it. I think that you have a crush on him, well come on am I right or not? If you need advice you couldn't have found better people to ask, isn't that right Mara?" Tabby said her perky attitude showing off, as Amara shook her head in disagreement.

"Well," Amara started as she finished her own drink, "I think that Paige already knows what she feels and what she wants to do. That's all I have to say, I'm not comfortable giving out advice on other relationships."

"Good advice on dating, I'm sure that Bobby will come around eventually. I'm a lot better looking than that tramp at high school, just go for it if you like him." Jubilee said as the girls got up, after they had finished their meal.

Jubilee got up slowly as the others picked up the two trays and put all of their trash on the tray. The small group of girls noticed that the three guys that had been staring at them had quickly disappeared. The girls merely giggled as they carried the stuff that they had purchased back to the van and began to prepare for the trip back to the institute.

Meanwhile back at the institute, Scott and Kurt laughed a little as they played a game of pool in the game room. The interior of the institute had gotten off easily, as Scott finished the game off. Kurt shrugged his shoulders in defeat, the two were about to begin again when Kurt stopped to answer the door. He was all smiles as he walked into the room Amanda with him as the two teleported into the game room.

"My fuzzy elf, what happened here? Ms. Monroe's garden and almost all of the ground near there has been scorched black." Amanda asked a little concerned that something bad might have happened.

"Well you see liebchen; two days ago this place was well attacked. Everyone's fine no problems at all with the exception of a few injuries." Kurt answered as Amanda started to scold him a little for not telling her sooner.

"Well," Amanda started, "I am glad that everyone is okay. I've missed you so much Kurt, going to Empire State University is just too far away from you. It also hurts that my parents are still warming up to the idea of us dating." Amanda stated as the two started to kiss, as she started to mess with is blue fur a little.

The two broke off their kiss, both of them grinning about seeing each other again. Kurt hugged her tight, using his tail to rub her face gently causing her to giggle in joy. Scott laughed a little at the sight, about to slip out before the two stopped him. Amanda ran forward giving him a hug as well, causing him to step back in surprise at her excitement.

"Oh, I'm sorry Scott, its just I'm so excited to be back. I missed everyone so much; I can't wait to meet all of the new members that you have here. Kurt sends me emails, so I can keep up to date with everything." Amanda stated her smile unwavering as Scott stepped back slowly.

"Its okay, I understand that you are just happy to be back in Bayville. As for the three new members, I think two of them are at the mall right now. As for the third, he probably isn't feeling up to having any visitors today. He took the brunt of the attack two days ago, and he still needs some rest." Scott said as he thought things over not wanting to disturb those that were still recovering, his smile disappearing as his thoughts became crowded about what happened.

"Oh okay, come on Kurt I want to see what else is new around here. It's been a while since I've been back, who knows what you've changed around here." Amanda replied as she and Kurt left the room, the two holding hands as they left the room.

Scott was about to leave when Jean came into the room, her shift in the infirmary finished. Scott smiled as Jean ran over to him giving him a kiss, the two continuing that kiss for a while. Scott couldn't help but smile when the two broke away from each other, both taking a breath as they gazed at each other.

"So what should we do, I have a mountain of school work to get to for my pre-med degree. So that leaves very little time for fun with you," Jean said as she pouted a little causing Scott to grin mischievously.

"Hmm," Scott started as his thoughts began to focus on Jean, "I'm sure we can think of something, for now how about a walk. It's a nice day outside, and it isn't often that we can just relax like this. Even I know the value of some relaxation everyone once and a while."

"Okay, I'm going to go check on Alan, Brandon and Roberto so let's meet back here in one hour. That should be plenty of time; I want to make sure that they are recovering." Scott answered as Jean nodded slightly picking up on some of his thoughts.

Jean started to walk away, but turned to say something else, her red hair flipping over her shoulder, "It's not your fault Scott, you may be the team leader, but even you can't be everywhere. You are not to blame for the injuries they received, even if you were in charge."

"I know, but I can't help but feel that way. You know me too well Jean, its just I feel that I'm responsible for what happened to them. They were…" Scott said until Jean walked up to him, putting a finger over his lips to stop him from talking.

"It will be just fine, nothing to worry about. Why don't we go have some fun on this walk, so I can help take your mind off things?" Jean asked as Scott nodded, Jean always helped cheer him up as the two started to walk out of the institute.

On the way outside, the two stopped and looked at the clock before leaving. All of the students that were 18 or under had to return by eight. The two were about to walk outside through the garage, as they watched the door open. Scott stopped for a moment watching as the girls walked in, finally finished with their shopping. They were all smiles as they walked past, most of them carrying shopping bags.

"Well I'm glad you all made it back in time, which is unusual since Tabby was driving. You didn't break any laws did you?" Scott said his voice full of concern as everyone stopped.

"Hey big guy don't worry, I didn't do anything wrong this time any way. Oh yeah give those to Ms. Munroe for me." Tabby replied as Scott frowned at her comment, the wild child of the group walking away as she tossed him the keys to the van.

"Well I'm glad all of you had fun, remember to stay on the mansion grounds for tonight. I'm certain the Professor is going to lift this confined to mansion grounds soon," Jean stated her voice also full of concern as she picked up on Scott's thoughts.

Scott and Jean both walked off, Scott carefully tucking the keys away in his pocket. Tabby and the other girls watched as the two walked away, Tabby shaking her head as the two finally went outside, Picking up her own shopping bags, the girls continued onwards as they walked to the girls' side of the mansion. It was relatively quiet for the moment until the five girls finally made their way back to their rooms. Paige and Noriko entered the room that the two shared, space in the mansion was slowly disappearing and no one wanted to room with the very moody X-23.

"So we got everything that we needed right Noriko?" Paige asked as they walked into their sparsely decorated room.

"Yeah it is very nice of the Professor to pay for the stuff that I need. I don't think I would feel comfortable calling home and asking my mother and father for yen." Noriko answered as Paige nodded, the two were very close since they moved into the same room.

"Well you know I like Jaime, so it's only fair to know if there is anyone here that you like." Paige asked curious to see if her best friend had a crush on someone here.

"Well I uh well I uh…" Noriko stammered until Paige started to laugh, Noriko looked on confused as she watched Paige laugh.

"I'm sorry Noriko, you just look so confused. Just tell me if you do okay, I promise I won't tell anyone." Paige stated as she attempted to comfort her friend.

Meanwhile in another room, Amara and Tabby put the clothes away that they had purchased. Amara put away two new skirts and a new blouse as Tabby looked on. Tabby jumped across her bed, plopping down across it as she waited for her friend to finish. Amara took a seat on her own bed, the two finally done putting everything that they had bought away with the exception of two bags near Amara's desk.

"Hey Mara, what's up with those two bags?" Tabby asked as she pointed at the two bags leaning against the desk.

"Those are for my parents, I wanted to get them something special from this world. Things from outside of Nova Roma are highly valued for the most part, for example a diamond necklace here could be worth thousand dollars. In my home country diamonds are so rare that if you owned a small one, you would be considered a high noble or royalty." Amara answered as she got back up, walking over to pick up the bags.

Both girls were surprised by a knock at the door, Dani knocking patiently as she waited for one of them to answer. The door opened cautiously as the two looked at Dani, a little concerned that she had arrived. Dani nodded to the two, barely bothering with any pleasantries.

Dani walked in calmly speaking clearly, "Amara, Alan would like to see you as soon as possible in his words. Brandon's being transferred to his room, and Alan said something about the two of you needing to talk alone."

Amara nodded her head as she left the room, turning down the hallway and eventually coming to a stop in front of the elevator. She waited for the doors to open, stepping inside slowly as the doors closed in front of her. It took mere moments for her to arrive, as she stepped out of the elevator and then headed straight towards the infirmary where Alan was currently being treated.

"What took you so long princess? I'm a busy man after all, and I don't have time to be sitting around waiting for you." Alan stated as he sat up slowly, Amara looking at him confused by his comments.

"Huh," Amara said as she looked at him brush his hair back with his hand, "I thought you were confined here until next week. That's what…"

"Princess I never had any intentions of staying here that long. I got business to deal with, and someone is going to pay for that damn cloaked plane that was flying around here. That's why we have to talk right now, before I leave." Alan answered as he rolled off the bed revealing his uniform as he stood there.

"But you're still hurt, and what do we need to talk about any way." Amara replied as Alan laughed a little before walking towards her.

"Bah a little flesh wound isn't going to keep me down, and as long as I don't do anything drastic I'll do just fine. I wanted to talk with you about something important, something that needs to be said..." He trailed off being disturbed by his specially designed cell phone.

Alan picked up the phone carefully his face turning pale at the message that he had received. He stood up almost immediately, grabbing his belongings and starting to pack. He picked up his wallet and casually placed in his back pocket before Amara grabbed his right hand attempting to stop him from leaving.

"Look I'm sorry I'll be back as soon as I can so we can talk. I've got things I need to deal and I no longer can afford to be here." Alan stated as he ran out of the room, ignoring the pain that was starting to spread through his body.

'If this is right, this could be a lot of trouble down the road. I hope the boss is still willing to confront the Joint Chiefs if this gets out of hand. This whole damn situation is starting to spiral out of control; this whole damn thing is starting to piss me off. Don't worry though Brandon, I'm going to find those bastards and I know exactly where to start looking now. The Army's National Weapons and Defense Laboratory is the only place where Kincaid gets his toys, and it's the only place where that man could get a cloaking device like that.' Alan thought as he rapidly dialed a number on the cell phone, as he ran out of the elevator and towards his jeep in the garage.

**Washington D.C.- **

"This meeting of the Joint Chiefs is classified; any mention of this meeting is a violation of the Uniform Code of Military Justice. Violators will be prosecuted to the fullest extent available," a young navy ensign said as she left the room, a group of older men taking seats on a round table.

The first man to sit down was a Hispanic man, General Miguel Hernandez. He was by far the oldest of the group, nearing 75 years old and his service in the Air Force had made him a highly respected man. The African American sitting next to him was Admiral Theo Marshall, these two men served as vice-chairman and chairman of the Joint Chiefs respectively. The other men took their seats as the lights went dim, a holographic projection demonstrating highlights of the battle at the institute being projected.

"First let us welcome the new Commandant of the Marine Corp, General Henry Ayers. Congratulations on your promotion and confirmation Henry," General Hernandez stated a very old and wise voice coming from the man.

The others present also congratulated the man, as he took his seat among the Joint Chiefs. As the men took their seats, a man in an army uniform was the first one to start the debate. His four stars present on his shoulder, he was the second oldest member, his bald head and pale white skin making him different from the other generals and admirals present.

"Mutants are the greatest threat this country has ever faced, and the situation is spiraling out of control. Look at this footage from the battle at the Xavier Institute; this is completely unacceptable; these mutants are becoming increasingly violent. Look at the footage we got from our spy satellites, we can't continue our current stance. They must be dealt with through more permanent means. Mutants should be exterminated like the vermin they are." General Nickolas Wells said his contempt for the mutant population shining through as he spoke.

"It seems you need to be reminded General that we are to defend the United States from its enemies. We are not here to pass legislation, nor are we here to act as cold blooded murderers. The way I see it, if this group hadn't attacked the institute, this battle would have been completely avoidable. The aggressors are to blame, not those trying to defend themselves. Not all mutants choose to act violently and I should remind you that you are desperately getting close to genocide. As the lead Admiral of the Navy, I will not authorize any use of naval forces for such a deplorable cause." Admiral Alexander Pike said as he pressed his buttons displaying various scenes of the battle.

"I think the Admiral should stop living in a dream world. These mutants are rapidly becoming a threat which is exactly why we reauthorized the activation of the sentinel project…" General Wells replied as he was interrupted by the newest member of the Joint Chiefs.

General Henry Ayers tapped his right hand on the table before responding, "I should remind you that the authorization that was given for that project has been greatly exceeded by Brigadier General Kincaid. The man has completely overstepped his bounds, not to mention that he and the new army mutant hunting regiment have completely disappeared. I'm certain that you have nothing to do with this right General Wells?"

"I resent the accusation Henry; you were the one that was hiding a mutant right underneath us. Your own grandson is by far one of the most dangerous mutants on this planet, look at what he did in this battle. In fact maybe we should examine that more closely, after all who knows what else you may be hiding from the esteemed members present here." Wells replied the two starting a disagreement as the other members looked on in disgust.

"That's enough, gentlemen may I remind you that we are not here to discuss your dislike of each other. Wells, you would do well to remember that this very body gave Henry the authorization regarding his grandson. We had plans for Brandon, and now they are all down the drain. I have no doubt that mutants will play a crucial role in the defense of our nation; in fact some are already protecting us from various threats. However, you do bring up a valid point; there are some that are threats to the nation which is why we are here tonight." Admiral Marshall stated bringing order to the room, as the two men glared at each other.

The gentlemen around the table began to discuss amongst themselves, a small uproar beginning as they argued and debated with each other. They all came to order as the vice-chairman called the room to order, the older man having a distinguished air to him.

"I must admit that the plan for the task force has been irreparably postponed now, we didn't plan on having the attack at NRI blowing our cover. I also have to agree with General Wells' comments, based upon the power that your own grandson displayed. That kid has the power to literally bring down an entire nation if he so desired it. He may very well be stronger than some of the older nuclear weapons we have in storage." General Hernandez stated as he brought up more pictures of the battle to support his opinion.

"If I may," General Ayers started brining up Brandon's military record for everyone to see, "you will notice that in his time in the Marines, Corporeal Ayers never once used his abilities unless he or his teammates were threatened by another mutant. There have been no documented incidents regarding his mutant ability until the attack at NRI. He has acted very honorably in the use of his abilities, and like every man in this room has sworn to defend the United States. He would not disobey that oath, and if it weren't for him the casualties at NRI would have been much higher. We must not forget that while they have great power, many responsibly choose to wield that power."

"Bah, either way you cut it, they are a threat. What about the ones that don't use their powers responsibly like the one known as Magneto? We also had all of those problems with the Apocalypse situation; none of the weapons that we used against him had any effect. Not to mention there was that one mutant, the one that has remained unseen by everyone. Any mutant or meta-human should be registered; they are all threats to this nation and the populace within." General Casey Fares answered attempting to rebut what had just been rationally stated, the man representing the Air Force officially making his presence known.

"Gentlemen, we are once again getting off topic. The reason for this meeting is to determine new courses of action in dealing with the threat that those mutants that refuse to coexist peacefully with others. I recommend that we consider the Shadow project, it is nearly completed according to my subordinates." Admiral Marshall stated as he attempted to place the meeting back on track once more.

They watched as the Admiral slowly typed an access code opening the file about project Shadow. They all looked at the file that was being displayed, as they all started to whisper among each other. General Henry Ayers grunted as he stopped the footage, disgusted by what he had just seen.

"Shadow while almost complete would be almost like committing an act of genocide. I don't care what the scientist say, developing a biological weapons that targets only mutants is not an option we should consider. What if it spreads out of control or worse mutates in a way that it infects humans. In fact I recommend that we destroy the project before it becomes know to the general public, or to the mutant community." Admiral Pike commented as he rubbed his white beard gently as he thought about what he had just viewed.

"I agree this is just too risky, the previous Chairman should have never developed that. That project should have never been started by our predecessors; they were so startled when mutant growth started to appear again. I think that we should pursue a different course of action, it seems that everything we have proposed so far has failed and I foresee this failing as well. I think that we should give SHIELD a mandate to deal with this situation. Why do we provide so much of their funding and grant them the latest in military technology if they are unwilling to deal with the problem?" Hernandez spoke as the others shook their head in disagreement.

General Wells typed a few numbers bringing up another file, this one so highly classified that all of the men in the room did a double take upon seeing the label. They all watched as it popped up, many of them in shock at what he had brought up. Labeled Project: Revitalization, it was currently under the control of the man that he opposed most of the time.

"I propose that we bring the greatest scientific minds together and make a new super soldier formula. We had great success with Captain America before the genetic deterioration began. SHIELD can't handle the mutant threat, but if we used the formula we could create entire batches of super soldiers to fight for us. They would be more than equal to any mutant including Henry's grandson." Wells responded as the others loudly started to debate amongst each other, even Admiral Marshall was in a heavy debate about the topic.

"I agree that healing Captain America is a top priority, we owe the man for his actions in World War Two. We should not however, repeat the mistakes of the past that have been made by previous members. Creating genetically engineered super soldiers from humans is wrong, have we learned nothing from Weapon X or the problems that the clone of him has caused. I will never consent to this, and reactivation of a project like this requires unanimous consent by all members including the President of the United States. Never again will we be playing God, not so long as I am on this esteemed body. I'm not saying however, that we shouldn't be prepared if mutants do begin to pose a threat. This is just not the way to deal with things." General Ayers barked his temper coming through as the remaining members grew quiet after the man's sudden outburst.

"Hmm a passionate display for you Henry, but this time I do agree with you. We shouldn't be doing this again, not this time. I was thinking though, perhaps we should modify the original plan instead of going through these incomplete or not yet fully tested projects. Brandon was the first military mutant that would have been in the task force, and we only have a few others available to us at the moment. I say we increase the number of personnel with the gene and then choose a leader from them. " General Hernandez spoke the other men beginning to nod in agreement; a modified original plan seemed to be the best option.

"Not a chance in hell, I'm not allowing a single mutant near my men. I'm certain Fares agrees with me, mutants are a disease something to be exterminated with prejudice. I say we just increase the number of sentinels from the 600 we have built to 2000. They would be completely out matched." General Wells yelled as Admiral Pike slammed his fist onto the table enraged at the man.

"Your bigoted attitude has no place in this building Wells, you have no business…" Pike started until Wells interrupted him.

"You don't want to finish that Pike." Wells threatened as the two men stood up nearly coming to blows right then and there.

"Alright gentlemen take a seat; if you want to fight each other take it outside. I find that this plan is also undesirable because I believe the sentinels have proven themselves to be completely incapable of handling mutants of higher power levels." General Hernandez barked as the older man stared the younger two down, forcing them to sit back down out of their mutual respect for him.

"Gentlemen I suggest we take a 10 minute break to cool off; this is not a situation that can be easily resolved. We must think with cool heads, after all those that fight with anger or make decisions in anger leads all that follow them to ruin." Admiral Marshall replied as the men all nodded in agreement.

The high ranking military men slowly stood up walking to the various corners of the room for food and drink that had been prepared for them. Admiral Pike walked slowly over to the corner where General Ayers stood as he took a slow drink of his coffee. The two nodded as they stood in a corner away from the other four.

"Henry I was so disappointed to hear that Brandon had been discharged. I still remember when he was younger and he would come over and stay with me and my family when you had to leave on an assignment. My wife loves him as if he was a member of my family. How is Brandon doing any way?" Admiral Pike asked as he poured himself another cup of coffee.

"He's doing well, I was hoping that the deal we had would come into play. He really likes that institute though; he's actually dating the princess from Nova Roma. Amara is her name, I'm not too happy about that relationship but he is starting to change. For the first time ever he actually openly opposed me when it came to her." Henry spoke as his friend smiled as he interrupted him excited about the news.

"That's great news Henry, I was afraid he would have a hard time adapting to civilian life. As for dating, you knew as well as I there was going to come a time when he wouldn't listen to you on that subject. No matter how hard you try you can't order him around any more. I think I'll pay a visit to Brandon when I get some time off, I wouldn't mind seeing the kid again. Your grandson was a unique marine; he was well liked by a lot of people." Pike answered as the two took a seat back down at the table, the meeting about to begin again.

"Yeah I know people have always said that about him. He has a way of just drawing people around him, even those that are his superiors feel the need to follow him. Hell that one is still following him and he's a major now. That one was always a problem though, his only loyalty lies to Brandon and that makes him very dangerous. How about we go get a real cup of coffee after this old friend?" he answered as the other men took their seats around the table.

"Sure, I'm not surprise he is still following Brandon. I don't know what happened in Puerto Colon that made him so loyal to Brandon, but if you notice practically every member that was involved in that mission is like that. " Pike responded as he took a seat, the arguments beginning again.

The men looked at each other carefully as the original project that they had planned. The slides appeared as Admiral Pike pushed a few buttons bringing up a list that was classified to nearly everyone. The only men or women that knew these people existed were the President and a couple of senators. The list scrolled down as the names were displayed prominently on the list.

"I see you are intent on keeping this mutant task force project alive. Why keep these vermin alive, we are the majority race on this planet. They should…" Wells started as he suddenly stopped when Admiral Marshall raised his hand forcing him to stop talking.

"I protest this as well, mutants have no place being near humans. God knows what those freaks would do with access to military technology." Fares barked as his face twisted with anger at the mere thought of the task force being reformed.

"Well then it seems that we should make building trust between humans and mutants a priority. Therefore the new task force should consist of a blend of both humans and mutants, but the leader must be a mutant. We have to show we are willing to accept them, while at the same time show ones like Magneto we won't let them do as they please." Marshall stated attempting to reach a compromise between the two groups.

"Agreed, we have a few members already that are mutants, we have been slowly recruiting people with the X gene slowly and secretly so as not to alert any one to the plan. The only thing wrong with the original plan is that we no longer have someone with the experience necessary to be a field leader. We considered Brandon perfect due to the fact he literally grew up in the Marine Corp and that meant he would be loyal. The fact is all we need to do is find a replacement leader and gain more recruits to officially establish the task force." General Hernandez spoke as he looked over the project details that they had approved four years ago.

"So we find a leader from those we have or from one of the new recruits. We have to keep this hidden from the general populace, but I believe this is the correct option. All in favor," Admiral Marshall stated as everyone agreed except General Fares and Wells.

"I don't want anything to do with this. I'll let you handle this one since you decided to keep it going Hernandez. If you would excuse me, the army has a lot of business to attend to." General Wells said as he stood up walking hastily out of the room after being displeased with the results.

"Let my dissent with this option be well known, the Air Force will not have anything to do with this project. Hernandez you are on your own on this one, keep those mutant bastards off of our bases. The Navy or Marines can have this project as far as I'm concerned." Fares said as he also left the room, his anger apparent at the decision.

"Bigoted bastards, I hate those two idiots." Pike said as he watched the two leave heading towards their own offices.

Henry growled slightly as the two left before responding, "Come on let's go get that cup of coffee."

General Wells walked out of the room slowly, his aides surrounding him as he walked towards his office in the Pentagon. The man walked into his office slowly two men staying outside to prevent anyone from interfering. General Wells took a seat, carefully pulling out of his desk a special cell phone that he used to contact people under his command.

"General Stryker this is Wells, its time we came up with a permanent solution to the mutant problem. Begin preparations to deal with the Xavier Institute, I'll let you know when it is time to move in." Wells spoke into the phone as he shut the cell phone off, as he started to laugh at his plans.

'Fucking traitors, I'm through letting these mutants be, I don't care what those fools think I'm taking action. I won't let mutants destroy my country, I'll destroy them all before they get the chance. My first stop will be the Xavier Institute; they are the only ones in the open. I'll clean the town of Bayville up, when I'm done there won't be a single mutant left alive or free in that city. I'm one step ahead of everyone in this game; no one will catch me off guard not with their help.' Wells thought as he looked over to his desk, preparing his own attack.

Next Chapter: Expectations, part 1

The students prepare for the dance and for a few of them the trip to Nova Roma. Brandon also worries about his first meeting with Amara's parents, and he struggles with his thoughts about the impending meeting.


	20. Expectations part 1

AN: Well the fic is coming along fine, but I've been having the usual amount of problems related to outside events. Be sure to read and review, that's important folks because I spend a lot of time working on this and I would appreciate a reward in the form of a review.

Brandon stood there silently in his room; he stared at a mirror looking at his reflections. He continued to stare into the mirror, finally leaving the room to get some breakfast. He took his usual path to the kitchen, only hearing the sounds of food cooking upon entering the room.

"Good morning Ms. Munroe," Brandon said as he entered the kitchen, a little earlier than usual.

"Good morning Brandon, you are up early today," she stated as Brandon took his usual meal to the table.

"I have a lot to do today; I have intelligence reports to read, training to do, get ready for the dance, and pack for the trip to Amara's homeland. I am worried about leaving though, I don't want to leave this place unprotected with Reaper and his Master out there. Who knows what those two morons are planning now." Brandon replied in between bites of food.

"I understand your problem, but this place will be just fine. There are plenty of people here to protect this place, so you should try to relax today and while you are in Nova Roma. Consider a type of vacation," Ororo said calmly as Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

"Thanks I'll try to relax, but I'm not very good at that when there seems to be enemies very close by to our location. We can't estimate how long it took Reaper and the Brotherhood to arrive, as far as we know they could be living an hour away. I want to go but I don't want to leave this place vulnerable to an attack." Brandon stated when a puff of sulfur smoke appeared in the room, Kurt teleporting straight to the kitchen as always.

"Guten Morgen Brandon," Kurt said as the sulfur smell from his teleportation filtered through the room.

Brandon nodded and got up leaving the room paying his respects to Kurt before leaving. Brandon shrugged his shoulders as he walked down the hallway listening to the various voices. There were a lot of people living here under this roof, all living peacefully and happily to a point Brandon thought as Amara walked up to him.

"Good morning," Amara said as she gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Morning princess," Brandon replied taking great pleasure in returning the kiss.

"I'm going to ignore that, you better be ready for this dance when I get back from school. Also no training for you today, I want you to be fully rested." Amara teased as Brandon gave a small salute.

"Yes princess, I understand. What do you expect me to do without training though," Brandon replied as he teased her right back.

"Just don't do anything stupid and get yourself hurt, because I will drag you to the dance any way," Amara shot back with an ice cold glare causing him to freeze showing some fear.

'Note to self, anger Amara at your own damn risk. I think Reaper would have pissed himself if he just saw that look. I guess all that time I spent talking with Alan has a side effect after all. At least I hope it isn't that time of the month, if it is this is going to be a very long trip. At least if it gets real bad I can always jump out of the plane, not like I haven't gone parachuting before.' Brandon thought as he was interrupted by Bobby teasing him.

"Aren't you a lucky one," Bobby sarcastically commented as Brandon looked at him an evil grin beginning to form.

"You know I have been thinking of how to get you back for that icy floor, maybe a little energy dodge ball." Brandon returned his grin getting bigger thinking about blasting Bobby.

"Now that I think about it, I think I have school today," Bobby said as he ran out of the room, Brandon quickly giving chase.

Brandon followed him throughout the mansion and watched as he jumped into a car with the other students. The car sped away quickly no doubt due to Bobby's pleading to get away from the marine that was chasing him. It wasn't until a quick snap of a twig did Brandon jerk his head back noticing Logan standing there.

"Hey marine, tell me something what do you know about your descendants?" Logan bellowed as Brandon turned around caught off guard by the question.

"Well my father was Derrick Ayers, a marine colonel, head of some military project. I had an uncle named Charlie but I never found out what exactly happened to him. My grandfather you already know and my great-grandfather served in World War Two. My great grandfather shared the same name that I do; the only difference being he went by his middle name for the most part. I think it was Keith or Kenneth or something that starts with the letter k. That's all the family I know of, I'm the only one that is left besides my grandfather." Brandon answered curious as to the reason why Logan was asking this question.

"Thanks marine," Logan grumbled as he left Brandon standing their not even fully understanding what had happened.

Logan growled slightly, an old memory awaking from its long forgotten slumber. He stood there for a moment waiting for the memory to make sense to him, but he only caught brief flashes before the memory was gone once more. Grabbing a can of beer, the man took a seat next to his precious motorcycle.

Brandon looked at the man confused as he started to walk away from him. Logan growled a little as he walked off heading through the garage and back inside the institute to look at something that he had received earlier.

"Oh well, I think I'll just let that go," Brandon commented as he left the area and headed back up to his room.

Brandon turned on his laptop and looked through his usual messages from his grandfather and the usual status reports from Alan on how things were proceeding in his search. There were even a few messages from other marines that Brandon had been deployed with, guessing that his grandfather had given ones he trusted a way to contact him. Brandon stared at the computer typing responses as he worked hard to get everything done before he left for Nova Roma.

Meanwhile down in the lower level of the institute Dr. McCoy and Professor Xavier looked over the results of the latest rounds of test that they had done on three different blood samples. The first sample belonged to Brandon, but the last sample belonged to the being known as Reaper. Dr. McCoy stared at the results; the only reason that they had gotten some of Reaper's blood was due to a knife Logan had found. It had taken nearly three days for each sample to be fully tested.

"Ah I'm sorry it took so long Charles, it took me longer than expected to help Roberto recover. As you can see I ran a full battery of test on all of the blood samples, but let's start with Brandon's first." Dr. McCoy stated as he pulled up the information that he had received from the test that had been run on Brandon's blood.

Charles Xavier looked over the results carefully before responding, "The results show a lot of potential, I knew that Brandon demonstrated a lot of power. If this is right, then he hasn't even reached his full potential yet. Hank what else can you tell me about the test results?"

"Well Brandon's mutation is very unique in a few aspects. The first being a unique cell that came from his blood, I theorized that this cell has something to do with his mutation but I'm not for certain. All the tests that I've ran on it have come up inconclusive. The second being the energy he uses has no radioactive properties, it's a completely different type of energy than any that I have seen before. I have no idea what to even call it, but this unique energy is the reason why he can form barriers and use his abilities the way he does. The other interesting thing is that unlike Kurt he doesn't need to eat mass amounts of food to gather energy. He naturally seems to draw his power from the environment around him, which may explain why he seems to be so at ease outside when the sun is out." Hank answered as he looked over the results for himself once more.

"I see is there anything else that we should go over?" Charles asked concerned that the powers might have a deadly draw back.

"I'm not for certain as of yet Charles, but I can tell you that I'm going to be busy studying his abilities for quite a while. While Brandon's powers do hold a lot of potential, he seemingly just manipulates the energy into whatever form he needs at the time. The full potential of his power is shaky at best; I don't know what will happen when his powers reach their full potential. The results from Reaper's blood have also been very intriguing. I've never seen anything like this before Charles." Dr. McCoy replied as he showed Charles the results that had been displayed from the recover knife that Logan had found shortly after the battle had ended.

The two men looked over the screen, both looking very uncomfortable about the results that they were seeing. Hank took a drink of water as they turned the page, the last bits of information on that page was even more disturbing than the last. The two men remained in the room in silence until they had taken everything in that they had seen.

"Are you certain about these results? I can't believe what I'm reading, his mutation has been genetically altered to such a degree that I've never seen before. Even when Eric used the stone the alteration wasn't like this, but I've only read about alterations on this scale before. I do remember reading something by a Dr. Essex that talked about alterations of this magnitude but he was literally laughed out of science years ago." Charles said as he rubbed his chin slowly, trying to figure things out.

"I know, I do vaguely recall that article written by Nathaniel Essex that contained some of the techniques that would have had to been used to alter Reaper this way. Such a genetic alteration has vastly increased his power, and now that we know that he can feed on other individuals I don't see a true limit on his abilities. If he did follow through on a threat to feed on an entire city of people, he may very well be unstoppable until the effects wore off." Hank stated as he magnified the blood sample that they had received earlier.

"That brings up one last sample though; it's the one that we managed to retrieve from the Brotherhood. Some how we managed to get a sample of Wanda's and believe me the results are very shocking. I found high levels of a combination of drugs that act literally as a way to mentally control or brainwash someone." Hank said as Xavier bowed his head slowly.

"I knew that we were being blocked from reading them by another telepath, but I did not expect this. We have to help them, is there anything we can do to help free them from the control that they are under right now?" Charles asked concerned about the long term effects of the drugs.

"Yes, if we manage to get them off the effects of the drugs in the next two month we should be able to treat them effectively. We have to get them off soon though or we may very well lose them forever." Hank answered as his fur covered hand lifted up a vial that he had been working on lately.

"I see we will have to work faster to fine them then. I'm going to search for them using Cerebro once more; I will try even harder to track them down. I think I will not be returning to Nova Roma however, it is much more important that I track them down while we still have time. We have very little time left if we are going to attempt a rescue of the Brotherhood." Charles said as he rolled away, heading for the shielded room that contained Cerebro.

Back upstairs Brandon looked over a few bags that had been placed in his room for inspection by Alan. Inside of the bags were every single listening device, or otherwise out of place device that had been found. He looked over the bags, all of them completely full of the devices. Picking up a set of hand written notes he started to compare the devices to the ones that had been listed and which groups were known to use the devices.

'Let's see I got 18 from SHIELD, they must not have much of a hobby. Twenty each from the CIA MI-6, and the KGB, I don't care what they call themselves now they are still the KGB to me. We have fourteen from the military intelligence, and seven unknowns. Damn Alan must have been pretty thorough to get all of these bastards. Glad he shut all of these off so I could get a close look at them. Damn any one of these groups could be the leak; I've already eliminated everyone here. Shit I need to start getting ready or Mara would have an excuse to barbecue me.' Brandon thought as he placed the bags in his closet, carefully shutting the door.

Brandon looked into the mirror as he picked up the suit that he was wearing. His eyes wandered over to the new black suit that he had recently purchased. It wouldn't take but a few minutes to change into, and he still had four hours until this dance started at nine. Brandon looked at his clock; Piotr should be here any minute now. Brandon opened the door when the giant Russian showed up with exactly what Brandon had wanted.

"I really appreciate you picking these up for me, I would have asked Ms. Munroe but I still haven't fully replaced her garden." Brandon said as he looked at the small bouquet of flowers.

"It wasn't a problem comrade, I'm looking forward to some peaceful times for a change. It was very fortunate that the mansion itself wasn't damaged. Are you still going to Nova Roma?" Piotr asked as Brandon placed his dress uniform on his bed.

"Yeah, it would be nice to know who all is going though," Brandon asked as Piotr smiled looking at his portrait Brandon had hung up on the wall.

"I'm sorry comrade, but I do know that Ms. Munroe will be the adult going to supervise the trip. The Professor has secluded himself with Cerebro since this morning, and Dr. McCoy is busy in the lab. As for Logan he seems to have left on his motorcycle after grabbing some file from his room." Piotr answered as Brandon nodded his head.

"Well I'm guessing that all of the New Mutants are going, but I think that brings up something that has been bothering me. I'm not comfortable with that team name, they clearly aren't new and they have been training hard lately. They deserve something a bit fiercer, something that shows what they are starting to become now." Brandon commented as the two nodded in agreement.

"Hmm I agree with you, they are getting much stronger from all of that training. It's odd though, before you arrived they rarely applied themselves in training. After you took over, it seems they all have been trying harder." Piotr replied as his friend started to laugh a little.

"That's what happens when one of them likes you and tells the others to make sure they don't screw it up. I always had a feeling that Amara made sure they went easy on me, it would explain Logan's happiness when he didn't have to train them." Brandon commented as he placed the flowers on his desk.

"Hey Piotr aren't you going out with Kitty tonight?" Brandon questioned as he looked around the room trying to put himself at ease.

"Yes comrade, we are going out to eat at that restaurant you recommended. The two of you came back much happier despite the battle that took place after wards." Piotr answered, teasing his friend slightly as the former marine nodded his head carefully.

"Thanks, I don't suppose you couldn't come with me to Nova Roma. Amara's parents despite her attempts to put me at ease really scare me." Brandon replied as he started to get ready for the dance, pulling out his razor to shave.

"I'm sorry comrade, but not everyone can go to Nova Roma. Maybe next time comrade, I'm sure you will be fine." Piotr continued as he left the room to prepare for his own date.

An hour later a well shaved and cleaned up version of Brandon emerged from his room, most of the guys had also gotten ready earlier. Carrying the flowers carefully, he rubbed his clean shaven face as he waited downstairs with the other guys. Ray and a fully recovered Roberto stood in the lobby carefully both helping each other fix the ties that they were wearing.

"Wow Brandon is that really you, I thought you would wear your dress uniform again?" Jaime asked as he looked at the young man in his black suit.

"Yeah well that was a one time thing because I failed to purchase a suit while I was out shopping. I recently corrected that mistake," Brandon stated as he looked upstairs hearing loud comments from the girls about what each should wear.

"Didn't Ms. Munroe take them shopping a week ago for this dance," Brandon stated concerned about the sounds he was hearing upstairs.

"Don't worry so much, everything will be fine. It's just a girl thing," Scott replied as he entered the lobby, everyone looking over in his direction.

"Better not let the missus here you talking like that you might get in trouble." Brandon teased as the two started to laugh at his comment.

The two men walked off taking a spot in the corner while the other male students finished getting ready. Scott and Brandon leaned against the wall watching the other students run around helping each other fix their ties or any other problem that appeared. The older of the two, Scott grabbed his friend shoulder getting his attention.

"I'm sure you'll watch out for everyone while at the dance and while you are in Nova Roma. Just try to keep everything peaceful though, we don't need any bad press while you are at the school. It takes a lot to allow them to let students to keep on going there that have gifts like ours." Scott commented his friend adjusting his black hair carefully in the reflection of the window.

"I understand, Scott I'll be sure to keep everything in line. I'm not going out to fight any one; I'm just trying to have a good time with Amara. I'll do my best to make sure that things are peaceful at the dance, but I can't guarantee anything. If anyone threatens them, I won't hesitate to take action." Brandon replied making sure to show the proper respect to Scott.

"I know," Scott started as he watched Tabby and Rahne walk down the stairs, "I wouldn't expect anything less of you. I just don't want the public thinking any worse of us. I know that you won't act unless it's absolutely needed."

"Speaking of bad public opinion, can you imagine what would happen if footage of that last battle or even worse the battle at NRI got out. I don't want to think about something like that happening…" Brandon said until Jaime walked over to him fiddling with his tie.

"Hey Brandon could you help fix my tie, I want to look good for the dance." Jaime stated smiling as he helped the young man fix his tie.

All of them stopped as the remaining girls came down the stairs, Jubilee, Paige, and Amara finally making their way into the room. Brandon looked up carefully noticing that Amara was wearing a black low cut dress with two straps. He smiled as he handed her the flowers, the other guys also following his lead.

"You look great; let's just hope my dancing has improved since the last time. I hope the other guys aren't jealous that I got you." Brandon whispered to her carefully, as she blushed a little as the two started to walk to the waiting car.

"You look very handsome, that's a nice suit. I didn't know that you went out and bought one. Let's have fun tonight; we leave for Nova Roma tomorrow morning." Amara whispered back as her date nodded his head in agreement.

"Well is everyone ready to go, I'll drive." Sam yelled as he helped Tabby into the van.

"I'm ready to go, but is this everyone?" Ray asked as all of them got into the car until a last minute addition opened the door and took a seat.

Everyone in the car was a little surprised that Dani had entered the car, the girl dressed in a very stunning white dress. Brandon looked as the others that were going arrived, crowding into the back and Sam driving. They watched as someone else joined them at the last minute it was Jubilee in a bright blue dress. Brandon nodded his head; Jubilee had spirit and wouldn't let the fact that Bobby didn't ask her ruin their fun.

"Is everyone ready, its time to go," Sam stated as he started the car and pulled out of the driveway.

Brandon and Amara just sat there holding each other as Sam drove the car. The school wasn't very far away and the drive wasn't very long at all. Brandon watched as they pulled into the school parking lot and the others got out. Brandon got out and helped Amara get out of the car. The two walked together to the entrance where a man was waiting.

"Tickets, please," was all he stated not even looking up until Amara handed him the tickets and his gaze turned to Brandon, the young man standing out since he didn't go to the school.

"I see we have a visitor for the dance, I should remind you to be on your best behavior young man. It would be a shame if you got kicked out because of something that happens," the man insinuated as Brandon nodded his head and walked into the gym.

Brandon smiled as the two walked in and whispers started to be heard. No one would have expected anyone to be going out with her. There were a lot of voices whispering as Brandon escorted her to a small table, as he carefully kept tabs on everyone. He was a little surprised to find Dani and Ray dancing close by; apparently she had wanted to have fun and didn't want to tag along with Kitty since she was on a date. His vision was distracted as the two were slowly cornered by a few girls.

"Wow look at who the little better than thou bitch brought with her. How did you get such a fine looking man to go out with you, maybe you promised him something…" the blond girl said as she was immediately cut off before she could finish.

"You shouldn't run your mouth kid, and I'll have you know that this is my girlfriend. Come on let's go Mara, I got better things to do than argue with some damn kid." Brandon stated his anger beginning to show as he started to lead her away.

"Hey I'll have you know that I'm captain of the cheerleading squad here and my boyfriend is the star quarterback. You should show more respect to me mutie lover, unless you are a mutant." she barked as he sharply turned his head to address her comments.

"I don't care who the hell you are, and if you think a star quarterback is going to intimidate me you are mistaken. You must have spiked the punch early little girl, now as for that last comment I am a mutant. I'm going to make sure my girlfriend has a good time and if you or your boyfriend ruin her fun their will be hell to pay later on." Brandon replied his anger starting to become apparent as Amara lead him away from the girl.

"Is it always like that here? This is the reason why I really don't like ignorant civilians, or going out to town much, bigoted racist." Brandon whispered as the two started to dance on the outer loop of the room avoiding most of the other people that were there.

"Yeah," Amara said as she leaned her head against his shoulder, "lately the students have been much more aggressive to anyone that has been called a mutant or even a friend of one. Most of them won't even give us a chance, we don't like going to school here but we do it because we believe what the Professor told us."

"Screw it; its over now so I'll have to make sure is that you enjoy your dance tonight. Just promise me one thing if her boyfriend shows up can I kick his ass?" Brandon asked, joking a little as a large smile on his face as she laughed at his comment.

"No fighting for you tonight, this is about having fun. Sometimes I wonder if you don't like to fight." Amara teased as the two continued to enjoy their dance near one of the walls and away from the center of the room.

The two smiled as they slow danced on the outer loop of the room, Brandon wasn't interested in getting the spot light any way. He watched as Jubilee stood there against the wall, no one was bothering to ask her for a dance and he felt bad that no one was dancing with her. He looked over noticing Jaime and Paige dancing closely supervised by Sam and being rooted on at times by Tabby when Sam wasn't paying attention to her. Roberto seemed to have his own date, leaving a high spirited Jubilee watching from the sidelines.

"Amara, what are we going to do, Jubilee looks really sad?" Brandon asked as he danced his way around so she could see her.

"I don't know, you feel bad about this don't you?" Amara countered as Brandon continued to slow dance with her.

"Yeah I do, I wish there was something I could do to help. I just don't know how to help her; I'm not really planning on setting her up with someone. That thing with Piotr was just because I wanted to help him out, and he was too scared to act. Jubilee is very spirited and doesn't have that problem." Brandon stated as the two continued to dance.

"I do too, but what can we do, it's not something that can be easily solved. I agree with you though, but she won't take this lying down. She'll deal with things her own way." Amara replied as Brandon just shook his not accepting this as an option.

The two continued dancing, but neither one knew exactly what to make of this. Brandon looked up as he saw three guys starting to move towards them. The three made their way quickly towards them, but passed them up heading for Jubilee. Brandon watched for a second and then stopped dancing starting to walk towards Jubilee with Amara in tow.

"Come on little mutie, why don't ya come have some fun with us. We don't want you to be here all by yourself after all, besides all of us football players deserve to have a little fun." the tallest one said as Brandon maneuvered closer towards them as he listened to the entire conversation.

"No way leave me alone," Jubilee yelled as the tallest guy raised his left hand, about to smack her until his hand was forced down.

"You don't want to do that," Brandon stated as he continued gripping the arm, not releasing his firm grip on the man's arm.

"Who da hell are you, this aint any of your business," one of them yelled as he went to punch Brandon.

Brandon blocked the punch quickly and sent the guy flying into the crowd with a hip toss attracting the attention of one of the teachers. The other two jocks quickly tried to take advantage of the situation only to be elbowed by Jubilee and Amara in their stomachs forcing them down onto the ground as well. The three watched one of the other adult present headed towards them. Mr. Jones, the gym teacher, made his way towards them with a very unpleased look on his face.

"What is going on h…?" Jones started until he noticed the young man standing tall before him, all three of the jocks laid out on the floor.

"What the hell do you think you are doing? You aren't even a student and you are causing problems. Get the hell out before I call the cops," Jones bellowed as Brandon merely shrugged his shoulders and started to walk off with Amara and Jubilee in tow.

"Sorry Mara, I didn't mean to screw things up like this. I just wanted you to have fun, ends up I probably did more harm than good on this one. Oh well to late now, but the Professor isn't going to be happy about this." Brandon commented as the three headed for the door and eventually ending up just outside of the school.

"You okay Jubilee?" Amara asked as she ran up to Jubilee.

"Yeah I'm fine; this just couldn't be a worse night. Why does this stuff always happen with us?" Jubilee said as some tears started to form on her face.

Brandon and Amara both bowed their heads slightly as Brandon pulled a small package of tissues out of his pocket. He couldn't stand seeing any one cry and this dance was over for him any way. He handed her a tissue as he noticed everyone else starting to gather around them.

'Damn fighting just ruins everything; I ruined all of their fun. Those stupid bastards may have played a role but I could have handle things better. Now I remember why I went to a military school to receive my high school diploma. I just reacted before I even thought the situation through. The whole moment for everyone is ruined now, and the Professor isn't going to like this at all.' Brandon thought as the girls tried to comfort Jubilee.

"Hey what is going on exactly?" Sam asked as Brandon helped Jubilee stand up.

"Just had to deal with some unwanted company, is everyone here?" Brandon questioned as he started to walk with Amara and Jubilee.

"Yeah we are all here, why?" Tabby asked as Brandon checked over to make sure that everyone was there.

"I'm calling it a night, I realize the dance doesn't end for another hour but after what has happened I think it is best that we leave," Brandon answered as they all nodded in agreement.

"Then let's go have fun elsewhere?" Tabby responded as Brandon headed for the exit.

"Alright we go out for one hour and then head back to the institute. Logan might gut me if I don't get all of you back in time, and I still have a few things to do before that happens." Brandon answered as the students agreed with him.

They all smiled and laughed walking towards the car that had been parked. Brandon's smile disappeared though when he saw what had happened to the car while they were in the dance. Brandon shook his head reading the graffiti that had been spray painted on the car. It had one rather large word FREAKS written on the hood as Brandon felt his anger surge.

"Man I'm going to go in there and…" Sam said before Brandon cut them off.

"We are returning to the mansion, I'll drive us back. There has been enough fighting tonight, what should have been a fun time has turned bad so we are all heading back." Brandon ordered as everyone climbed into the car, noticing a change in his behavior.

Everyone watched as he drove the van back to the institute, taking all of the turns and following the exact path that they took earlier. He pulled into the garage watching the garage door close as everyone started to pour out of the car. In one final motion Brandon tossed the keys to Sam walking off without saying a word to anyone.

"Well at least we got to have some fun; I'm going to go pack for the trip." Sam said as he walked off everyone else nodding in agreement except Amara.

"Hey Mara," Tabby said as she noticed her friends concerned look, "you coming back to the room or are you…"

"I'm going to Brandon's room; I need to find out why he is upset. I'll be in the room later," Amara barked as she walked off heading for his room.

Brandon walked into his room slowly; he had stopped off in the kitchen grabbing a soda before finally making his way to his room. He stopped noticing that the door had already been opened by someone. He smiled as Amara stood there looking over the clothes that he had packed, adding a few things that she thought he would need when he met her parents. Laughing a little he grabbed her hands as she dropped a pair of dress socks on the floor.

"So did you at least have a good time when we did dance?" Brandon asked as Amara just grinned.

"Yes I did what about you?" Amara asked as Brandon just smiled.

"How could I have not had a good time with you there, probably could have done without the morons and me getting in a fight." Brandon stated as the two started to kiss.

They stood there kissing as Brandon pulled back. Brandon pulled back from the kiss as Amara smiled dreamily, looking at his face. His face was all smiles at first, and then it started to change as his smile slowly faded away. The young man took a seat on his bed as Amara sit down next to him, concerned about his actions.

"That's okay, you only did what you thought is best. You only wanted to make sure that Jubilee didn't get hurt; I can't blame you for that. I hope you are on your best behavior for my parents though. That brings up another thing though, what's up with you? Why were you so irritated earlier." she teased getting serious in the end as Brandon pulled away from her.

"Well I was just mad that I got us kicked out, I wanted you to be able to enjoy the dance. Instead well you know what happened, and then there are a few other things that I am worried about. I am really nervous about meeting your parents though; I have no idea how I'm going to deal with meeting them. In all honesty I'm a little afraid of meeting them, what if…" Brandon replied as some of the nervous thoughts that preoccupied his mind starting to come through.

"You'll do just fine, and I'll be right next to you when you do meet them. Try not to worry about it, I know that we love each other and I'm certain my parents will see that as well." Amara asked as he nervously smiled at her, leaning back to rest on his pillows.

Brandon lay on his bed carefully as Amara joined him taking the spot directly next to him. She watched as he closed his eyes, seemingly trying to think his way through the situation. He seemed to just lie there not even moving as she reached over as she started to hold him.

"I'm very worried about this, Amara what am I going to tell your parents. What if they ask me what I do, I only do things around here? What if they ask what I plan to do in the future? There are just so many questions and so many things I just don't know what I'm going to do yet. I just don't have any definite plans other than being here with you. I mean what does a marine do for a living when he is no longer wanted by the military to be a marine." Brandon said as she hugged him tightly, the two holding each other closely.

"You'll figure something out, you just need more time. You can't be expected to have your entire life planned out after just a few months of life as a civilian. I have faith that you will think of something that you can do, hopefully something that doesn't give you nightmares at night." Amara stated as the two looked over the bags that they had packed.

"Well I'm going to haul these to the Blackbird; I'll be right back so just wait right here. I know how I can make it up to you for messing up the dance." Brandon commented as he picked up the luggage to be placed in the plane.

Amara merely nodded as she watched him carry the luggage away, the pile being a lot larger than normal since she had taken the liberty to pack both of their bags. He carried the luggage with him, punching a few buttons as he waited for the elevator to show up. He stepped inside waiting for it to lower.

'Well could be worse, at least this day is over. I can't remember the last time I got into this many fights, I must really be losing it or I'm more stressed than usual. Oh well tomorrow is a new day.' Brandon thought as he waited for the elevator to go down into the lowest level of the institute.

**Tomorrow **

Everyone gathered in the sublevel as the ramp leading up to the Blackbird was crowded with the occupants of the institute. Professor Xavier smiled slightly as he watched the students load up the last of the luggage, the ones that were staying watched as the last piece was loaded. Everyone gathered in front of the Professor as he started to speak to everyone that had gathered there.

"Well everything is done, I hope you have a nice flight home and enjoy reuniting with your parents Amara. As for everyone else, I must remind you to be on your best behavior while you're in Nova Roma. Be sure to take advantage of the peace to not only relax but learn about the culture that has been established there. It goes without saying that you are to listen to Storm or Odin if anything happens. Have a safe trip and enjoy your break." Professor Xavier spoke as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Take care of things here until I get back, I expect this place to be just like I left it. Oh and if Alan shows up tell him where I am, he always finds his way any way. If he does make contact get a hold of us through the Blackbird, you never know what he might turn up. Take it easy everyone, you guys need to rest while you can." Brandon commented as he boarded the plane as everyone else said their goodbyes.

"Hey Ms. Munroe how long does it take for us to get to Nova Roma?" Tabby asked as she fiddled with her seat belt.

"Hmm," Ororo started as she checked the auto navigation, "it says about 12 hours at the speed we will be traveling. Is everyone ready to go?"

A chorus of yes was heard as the engines flashed up and the plane roared out of the hidden hanger. Everyone was pulled back in their seats slightly due to the acceleration and everyone waited until they had finally reached cruising altitude to undue their safety belts. Amara closed her eyes, her stomach feeling upset at being airborne once more. She leaned her head against Brandon as the two seemed to go back to sleep.

"Hey Tabby, do you have any ideas about what we should do to pass the time while we wait for the Blackbird to get to Nova Roma?" Sam asked as Tabby nodded her head, the others going to sleep as well.

"Oh I got a few ideas Sammy boy but first lets get some sleep. There will be plenty of time for fun later when we get to Nova Roma. I'm kinda curious to see what Mara home looks likes any way." Tabby answered as the two leaned their heads against each other.

Ororo smiled as she watched all of the students and Brandon fall asleep, seemingly avoiding the boredom of the long flight. It was going to be a long flight as she set the alarm to wake them up when they were within an hour of Nova Roma. The flight was peaceful until Brandon woke up checking to see how much longer they have until they arrived.

'Wow still got two hours left; I can't believe I actually slept for nine hours. Man I guess this is what I get for not sleeping a lot around the institute. This is the best auto pilot I've ever seen, even in the military aircraft I've been in. None of them were ever this smooth, guess the Professor has some advantages that the military doesn't. I better wake Amara up now she might need time to prepare.' Brandon thought as he carefully woke her up from her peaceful nap.

"Sleep well princess, we only have two hours left until we get there. I thought you might need the time to prepare or something along that line." Brandon whispered as she stretched out as she finally started to wake up.

"Yeah I did, thanks for waking me up. I'll be back in a minute, make sure that no one goes to the back while I'm changing." Amara replied as she got up and headed to the back of the plane to change into her royal wardrobe.

An alarm rang in the plane as everyone else started to wake up as well, a lot of stretching and yawning going through the Blackbird. Amara walked out of the back wearing a one piece dress of sorts that showed part of her stomach. Ms. Munroe pulled back on the throttle as she started to land the plane, Brandon taking the opportunity to get a bird's eye view of Nova Roma. What he saw was very interesting as he looked out of the window.

'Amazing simply amazing, this whole place its great,' he thought as he looked at the building that surrounded the landing zone.

"It's a great home Mara; look at all of these buildings. You don't see construction like this back in the States. Marble and slate with plenty of ornate decorations, this must be a nice place to live." Brandon stated as he looked at the buildings that had been designed by the Nova Romans.

"If you say so, this place may be home but I don't have a lot of good memories of it like the institute. Come on, my parents will be waiting for us at the landing site." Amara replied as she walked off heading for the back of the plane again, this time everyone except Ms. Munroe accompanying her.

They all watched the ramp lower a burst of fresh non polluted air coming into the plane as it finished lowering. The entire city could be seen, a combination of wood and marble buildings. In the distance a few tall buildings made out of marble were seen, the rest being made out of wood. Everyone looked in the distance seeing aqueducts and a few public baths as well, and last was a huge jungle and what appeared to be a dormant volcano well away from the city. Their eyes narrowed as a group of men appeared carrying bronze spears; they broke apart revealing the King and Queen of Nova Roma.

'That's her parents, what do I say, what do I do, I have no idea. Oh man this is not a time to panic but really I feel like running away, I, I don't know what to do or say. Man I…' Brandon thought as he instinctively grabbed Amara's hand for comfort causing an interesting look from her parents.

They watched as the two walked closer to the group, the guards stopping when they were face to face. Smiles could be seen from both Amara and her parents despite the quizzical look that her father now had on his face. His eyes glared at the young man that dared touch his daughter, the royal princess, it was common knowledge in his country that any one who wasn't nobility couldn't touch some one of noble birth.

"Amara you are finally home," her mother spoke running forward and hugging her daughter that she hadn't seen for four years, "I've missed you every day my little girl is finally home and you brought your friends with you. This is great, I look forward to meeting you all, but first I must spend time with my daughter. "

"My dear there is plenty of time for you to dote on our daughter later. My lovely daughter you have finally come home, how we both have missed you. You've grown so much sense the last time we have seen you. I see you brought some of your fellow students from the institute; you all are welcome to stay here. I received a notification from Xavier that you would be staying a while, I've arranged for you to be staying in the royal guest quarters. Now that brings up one last issue, who are you?" Amara's father spoke pointing at Brandon as the others looked on in amusement as the marine was literally sweating bullets.

Next Chapter: Expectations part 2

Brandon and Amara sit down with her parents for a nice long talk, which results in a stunning outcome. The others relax and enjoy the tropical environment, but while they are relaxing and talking the Professor is using every resource available to him to locate the Brotherhood. Will he succeed in time?


	21. Expectations part 2

**AN: I apologize for the delay, and the redone chapter. I would appreciate everyone reviewing this chapter, and for no reason will I be pulling this one down. I either get right this time or suffer the pains of defeat. As usual I hope everyone reviews, I could use the encouragement. Also future updates willl be a little slower than usual like this one due to class work. Review my fic and take it easy. **

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Everyone stood there as Amara's father glared at the young man that was holding her hand. He released the hand as the man stepped forward yanking Amara away from him, standing in between the two. Pointing at him with his scepter, the young man finally stepped forward to talk to the very protective father.

"My name is Brandon Ayers, sir, I am your daughter's boy…"he started until he was interrupted by Amara.

"Father their will be plenty of time for you to talk with him later. We all just got here, can't they rest and see the city and royal palace before you meet them formally. We are going to be here for almost a week, there is plenty of time for explanations later." Amara pleaded intervening between the two as her mother came to the rescue.

"She's right you know," her mother spoke gingerly; "there will be plenty of time for this later and in private where the guards and others aren't watching. Please everyone this way."

"I cant refuse a request from both my daughter and my wife. We will talk later, I'm very interested in finding out what is going on here," Amara's father replied the others beginning to follow Amara's mom.

The group followed Amara's family down the path carefully, taking in the sights of as they followed her mother and father. Her mother was literally the spitting image of Amara, just a bit taller and better endowed while her father was a tall muscular man. Everyone except Amara and her family tilted theirs heads up as they looked at the palace for the first time. The shock sat in as the group stopped for a moment, allowing the visitors to take in the sight of the palace. The palace itself was a combination of marble and even what appeared to be gold. They all followed her past a large set of doors opened by a group of servants, the doors being made of what appeared to be bronze.

"Whoa and I thought the mansion looked nice, this makes the base look like a little piss hole." Brandon started as he looked up noticing the combination of gold, marble, bronze that made up the palace.

"That is just, wow. I knew you were a princess but damn you never told me you lived like this." Tabby started as her mouth was partially open in surprise, "I wouldn't…"

"I know that you would all like to comment on the palace, but it's rude to keep her family. Let's move along now," Ms. Munroe interrupted as the students nodded, everyone following her into the palace.

"This way please," Amara's mother said politely as she led them down a hallway and finally into a spacious room used for meeting guests, "please have a seat."

All of the visitors immediately gave their thanks as Amara and her family took a seat on their thrones. Not straying to far from her side, Brandon took the seat closest to Amara. As the two continued to look at each other, her father seemed to be a little uncertain about the situation before addressing the room full of visitors.

"I would very much like to welcome you to my kingdom. It is a real pleasure to meet my daughter's friend and him. I'll have the servants take your belongings to your guest rooms, please don't hesitate to let them know if something is wrong with your room." Amara's father stated his rich voice echoing in the room as the students were beginning to leave the room.

"I think I speak on behalf of everyone when I say thank you for your hospitality," Ms. Munroe started as everyone started to follow the servants to their rooms.

"You there, Brandon right. Please wait a moment I would like to talk with you." Amara's father said as the former marine stopped in place.

Brandon looked at her father for a moment before nodding in agreement. All of the others paid him sympathetic glances as they left the room. The former marine stood there, Amara looking at him with sympathy as well, her father looking the young man over carefully. The man continued to look Brandon over, carefully walking a circle around the young man judging what he saw standing there before him.

"First I would like to apologize for welcoming you so rudely, I was caught off guard by you and my daughter holding hands. Well now that the others have left I would like to introduce myself, I am Marcus the ruler of this kingdom. I have many questions for you, and I have no doubt you haven't expected as much. Hmm, where should I begin," Marcus said as the young man took in deep breathe preparing himself for what he considered the worse part.

"Marcus, are you certain that now is the best time to do this, they just arrived and it was a very long trip. Oh yes please forgive me for not introducing myself as well, I'm Aria." Aria replied as she looked the young man over

"Better now than later on or even worse if someone else confronted them about this. Now young man what exactly are your intentions for my daughter?" Marcus asked as he looked at the young man, he remained cool under pressure.

"Well to be honest I'm dating her, and getting to know her better. You should know that she is in very good hands; I would never do anything to hurt her. She is one of the most important people to me, I care, no love her very much." Brandon answered as truthfully as he possibly could without causing a major incident.

"Well now," Aria started as she looked the young man over herself, "that's very good to hear. Do you feel the same way my little angel?"

"Yes mother I do feel the same way about him. I don't think I would ever be the same if something happened to him." Amara answered as she walked over to Brandon, grabbing his right hand.

"I see so if someone were to try and hurt my daughter what would you do exactly?" Marcus asked curious as to what his response would be, a little taken aback by a flash in Brandon's eyes.

"Whoever this someone is I will never let any one hurt Amara seriously. If someone managed to injure her by some freak accident then well they won't be living long enough to gloat that much I can promise you." Brandon stated Marcus impressed with how quickly he answered the question.

'Well I should change the topic of conversation to something else. He is very intense when it comes to protecting my daughter, that thing with his eyes thought that wasn't natural. He must have a gift like my daughter, I don't have a doubt he doesn't mean what he says. I am a little concerned but it is clear that he can be very aggressive when he has to be. Ah I know this should be a good way to judge his character.' Marcus thought as he looked directly into Brandon's eyes, the young man calming down after being irritated by the question.

"Hmm, well then you have stated part of your intentions do you intend to possibly marry my daughter at some point in time?" Marcus asked as he carefully judged the young man based upon his responses.

"Uh well that could happen at some point down the road but not right now or in the near future. I love your daughter very much, so please believe me that isn't the problem. I just have to figure a few things out about myself, things that I need to know before I commit on that scale." Brandon answered as he looked at her father, the man carefully judging him based upon his answers.

"I see, well then I have something that I would like to know, tell me young man what kind of family do you come from?" Aria asked, Amara's parents taking the opportunity to fully question the young man.

"I come from a military family to put it simply," Brandon started as Amara squeezed his right hand gently, "my grandfather is a general in the United States military and my father was a colonel in the same military, almost all of the males in my family have been high ranking officers in the military. My family believes in honor, duty, and service to ones country."

Amara's parents both looked interested at that comment; such things were also valued in the Nova Roman society. What caused even more curiosity to go through their minds was the way their daughter was acting. She was casually holding his hand despite what she no doubt knew about their laws. The two seemed to wait for more questions; she was standing by his side that much the two parents could tell for certain.

"I think this conversation is going to take a lot longer than you can stand young man, please sit down." Marcus spoke as they all sat down in the chairs, the four sitting in a circle so they could all see each other.

"Uh thank you, I appreciate your hospitality while I'm staying here. I've never stayed in a place quite like this, there really are not any back home or in the military." Brandon replied as Aria started to smile, she liked the fact that so far he had been very polite and honest.

"Well you are quite welcome young man, you have clearly been well taught by your father when it comes to manners. I must admit that I was afraid that my daughter would bring someone less tasteful and respectful if she did meet someone in the modern world. I must admit that I am very happy that my daughter has met someone that means something to her." Aria commented as she seemed to get a reaction from the young man, his face clearly showing distress from her comment.

"I was taught how to be polite by my grandfather, he always stressed that I must treat everyone with respect. I am also trying very hard to make sure that I make a good impression on you. You are very important to Amara, and what is important to her means a great deal to me as well." Brandon replied as his hands started to feel sweaty after the question, he was starting to get nervous about the situation.

"I see, what happened to your mother and father young man; you made very little mention of your parents. I find it curious, so I would like to know about that." Marcus questioned as Brandon bowed his head slightly in disappointment.

"My parents are dead; my grandfather raised me except for some time that I spent in another family's care while he was running a few campaigns." Brandon said his words having a noticeable effect on everyone, "I wasn't trying to hide that fact but since it happened so long ago I really don't talk about it any more. I barely remember them any way."

"Father, Mother," Amara spoke as she smiled sweetly at her parents, "I know you would like to ask more questions of Brandon, but can't they wait until later. It wouldn't be fair to continue this after asking him such a question."

"I suppose so, but I have a few questions for you my daughter. Brandon I will have one of the servants show you the way to your room. I must ask that you and my daughter not attempt anything while you are here in regards to furthering your relationship." Marcus spoke as he stood up and motioned for a servant to take the former marine to the room that had been assigned to him.

"I understand I'm looking forward to getting to know you better. Hey Amara why don't you come with me, you can show me around." Brandon said his smiled becoming one of relief now that what he considered to be an interrogation session over and done with for the time being.

"Sure, I'll be…" Amara started until she was cut off by her father, the man stopping her in mid sentence.

"My daughter will be able to show you around later young man, but right now I would like to talk to her alone for a while." Marcus interrupted as he watched the young man seemed to nod his head in agreement.

"I understand you haven't seen each other in a long time from what the others have told me. I'll be waiting in my room when you are ready to show me around Mara, I don't intend to go any where without you." Brandon politely said the two parents watching as he kissed her on the cheek.

Brandon nodded slightly as the servant lead him away, heading down an ornately decorated hallway to the room that had his belongings. Amara watched him leave carefully, as her father watched her eyes following the young man. He couldn't help but smile a little at the way his daughter was acting; it reminded him of the way he and his wife used to act when they had first met. That was a different story though and it was an arranged marriage between his father and her father. He walked over to his daughter, embracing her in a giant hug as he lifted her off of the ground.

"I'm so glad to have my daughter back at home finally; I am surprised that you have returned though. I anticipated that you wouldn't return until you fully learned to control your gift, is that the reason you returned or was it something else. Look at you though; you have grown so much compared to how you were when you left." Marcus said as he placed his daughter back on the ground, laughing a little as he thought back to his picture of her before she left.

"Marcus, don't dote on her to much, but it is good to have you home my little angel. I suppose I should drop the little part though, you seemed to have grown in more ways than one. I can't believe that my angel is finally home, it is so good to have you back here." Aria spoke teasing her as she started to hug her daughter, thrilled about reuniting with her family at last.

"I must ask you something my daughter and you must answer me truthfully," Marcus started as she nodded waiting for him to continue, "are you certain that he is the one that you love? I must know for certain that he makes you happy before things go any farther."

"Yes I've never been more certain of anything in my life, and I couldn't be happier. He's part of the reason I came back here, I want to ask you for a favor father. I want your blessing for our relationship and I wanted you to grant him the privilege when he does decide to ask me to marry him. Please daddy?" Amara pleaded giving him the look that usually worked on Brandon as her father considered what he had just been asked by his daughter.

'To give him permission like that would require him to be a noble and she knows that. I can't just make him a noble like she asks me to, the senate would be outraged beyond words and since making someone a noble requires the approval of both the king and the senate there is only one way I can think of that the senate would approve of such a thing. It is very risky, but the young man seems to be in good shape physically and mentally. I will propose such a thing and let them decide if they want to proceed. It will also be a good chance to see if he is truly worthy to be with my daughter.' Marcus thought as he carefully considered the situation before deciding what to do exactly.

"I can't just make him a noble, the senate would be outraged and their approval is required for nobility. However there is a way for him to be a noble and win my respect, I propose a compromise to make sure that he is worthy in more than one way. I propose beginning the royal challenge, the winner getting the right to your hand for marriage. That is the only way for certain that I can guarantee that he will become a noble and if he wins he will have proven himself worthy not only to me but to everyone in Nova Roma. You and Brandon may decide if you want to accept this proposal or not." Marcus replied as he bowed his head slightly, knowing that his hands were tied in this matter.

"Marcus surely there is another way, I mean it's not like he is here asking for her hand in marriage. I know that commoners can't marry nobles but surely you can think of another way. What happens if he loses…?" Aria spoke as her daughter interrupted her, her face full of determination.

"Father I understand, I'll ask Brandon but I'm pretty sure I already know his answer. He will accept this challenge, but with his own condition and mine as well. I don't want a royal wedding after he wins, you heard from him that he isn't ready and I'm not either. When we are ready, we will return and have the wedding here I promise." Amara interrupted not even allowing herself to think about the problems that would happen if he should lose.

"My angel, please reconsider what would happen if he lost. Please don't do this, you might be…" Aria barked nearly in tears about the idea of her daughter in a marriage that she didn't want.

"Mother, there isn't a reason to worry," Amara started as she smiled confidently, "Brandon wont lose in this challenge, not when he finds out what is at stake. I'll go ask him and make sure that he will accept but as I said I know he will."

"So be it then, I'll wait for his acceptance in person then I will inform the senate. Have him see me in the next two days if he is going to accept the challenge so we have plenty of time to conduct it properly." Marcus replied as he watched his daughter leave the room, his wife grabbing his hand after what she had just heard.

"I truly hope that the gods will watch over that young man and that he will win." Aria whispered as she also watched her daughter leave, her husband nodding his head in agreement.

"Hmm I don't know about that yet, but I'm not for sure what to make of the young man just yet. I know that I'll get to know him better, but I think the challenge is the best way for him to prove his worth. Our daughter has a lot of faith in him though, and I know her faith isn't misplaced. Only time will tell," Marcus spoke as he started to walk towards his throne.

"I must admit Marcus that I'm impressed with how you handled the situation. You are dealing with this very impartially, you acted like the fair level headed ruler that you have always been. So what should we do now?" Aria asked as her husband took a seat on his throne resting his head on her hand.

"We wait and see what he decides; this will tell us a lot about him. By the end of their stay we will know everything that we need to know about him. I can promise you that I will be as fair and impartial to him as a father can be, it is hard to see my little girl acting like that towards him." Marcus replied as the two sat there together looking over the empty seats around them.

In the visitor part of the palace the New Mutants gathered outside of their guest rooms. All of the rooms were very ornately decorated and all of them had been given a small gift of money that had been left in their rooms for them. They watched as Ms. Munroe looked around taking count of who had finally showed up, she considered that Brandon and Amara were still occupied as she finally started to get things started.

"Well I'm content to let you explore the city and town as you see fit. Be sure to remain in small groups though, and try to avoid using your powers in public. I don't want to start a panic if something were to happen, so if it does return to the Blackbird or the palace immediately. Finally I want all of you to stay out of the jungle; it will be very easy to get lost there." Ms. Munroe stated as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"That's great so where do we go first; I kind of look forward to going shopping with this money that Amara's mom and dad gave us." Jubilee yelled excited about the idea of foreign shopping and seeing the city.

"Hmm that sounds like a good idea to me, so who wants to come with us." Tabby said as she elbowed Sam in the gut forcing him to volunteer, even though he would have done so any way.

"I guess I'll go as well, not like I have anything better to do." Ray said rather unenthusiastic, he had thought about not going on the trip but went any way.

"I think that I will come along as well, it's not every day that we can see a foreign city. I wouldn't mind bringing back a few souvenirs any way." Rahne said as the five of them started to walk away together, the others heading back inside the palace.

"Just remember to stay together, if anyone needs me be sure to use your communicator. I'll be taking a look at some of the local plants and flowers," Ms. Munroe commented as she left the group of students alone, letting them decide how best to spend their time.

Sam, Jubilee, Tabby, Ray and Rahne walked away from the group the five splitting into the first group while the second group consisted of Jaime, Paige, Noriko, Dani, X-23 and Roberto. As the first group walked along one of the many roads that lead out of the palace, they were amazed to find a bazaar that had many products for sale. The bazaar was full of life and voices as many merchants attempted to sale their products with unerring accuracy as they spoke their slogans.

"Whoa this place is great, look at all of the stores. Well not really stores but you get the idea don't you." Tabby yelled as the others watched her move to the first store.

"Hey wait for us, its not like we are short of time you know." Ray barked unhappy about the thought of being left behind and getting lost in the rather large city.

"Don't look at me I'm not slowing down unless I run out of money. Whoa look at this." Jubilee stated happily as she picked up a necklace made out of some ore.

"Hey Sammy what do you think of this huh? A few alterations and I think it would look just perfect." Tabby remarked excitedly as the others started to laugh a little.

"Tabby I don't think they are ready for that kind of alteration here just yet. Maybe you should look into getting something that isn't clothes. They have plenty of jewelry and pendants for you to buy, I mean look at Jubilee she is only paying attention to the jewelry." Sam replied as he picked up some Nova Roman original products.

"Yeah, there isn't that much for me to look at here." Ray said seemingly uninterested in the jewelry and clothes that the others were looking around at.

"Oh be quiet," Jubilee said as she picked up a bracelet made of jade, "I think this is great, I mean you can't exactly haggle with people back home."

"Yeah well you are only happy because you are buying a lot of things, there aren't that many interesting things for those of that don't wear jewelry." Ray retorted as Rahne looked on the table at other things that were available for sale.

"Oh wow mommy look at her hair," a young child said as she ran over to Rahne looking at her curiously, "um excuse me but how did you get your hair to be that color?"

"Oh hello there, mae hair is naturally this color. My hair has always been this color, I kind of like it that way." Rahne responded as the five watched the little girl reach out with her hands to touch the hair.

"Oh come along Lacus, you shouldn't be doing that. I'm terribly sorry if she caused you any problems, now let's go Lacus we have to finish our shopping for today." Lacus mother spoke as the group watched the two of them leave.

The group had been a little surprised by the actions of the little girl, but were more surprised by her. She was a small dirty blond haired girl that wore a rather plain and unassuming tunic. The others could tell that this little girl and her mother was most likely a commoner, when compared to the dress of the other women in the area. It was kind of sad for them as they realized the disparity that existed in Nova Roma.

"Well she was a nice kid, looks like she was a little down on her luck though. I never thought to ask Amara about how the people here lived." Sam said as he watched the young girl walk along the path with her mother.

"Hmm I don't think that any of us considered that, all of our thoughts focused on Amara's home not this type of well hell hole." Ray barked as he looked around noticing a few run down houses that the poor most assuredly lived in.

"Hey come on it's like that in every nation," Tabby said before noticing something that would take their minds off things, "hey look at that, they have some fancier clothes that are really colorful compared to the rest."

The group of five was quickly interrupted as they were slowly surrounded by curious individuals, the group that surrounded them didn't pay attention to them until Lacus brought them to her attention. Rahne could feel someone touching her hair, spinning around quickly finding two men standing there. All of them couldn't believe how quickly it seemed that they were surrounded a few whispering and pointing at Rahne and Jubilee in particular. The two men approached Rahne both looking at her curiously.

"I'm sorrae but don't touch me, I…" Rahne stated as the two men looked at each other surprised by what had happened.

"We are sorry for disturbing you," one of the older men spoke, his dressed very fancy when compared to the others, "it's just that we have never seen any one like the two of you before. How much would it take to convince you to come back with me for some fun?"

"What, hey buddy you best back off before I…" Ray stated his anger and temper getting the best of him but he was stopped by Sam and his timely interference.

"I'm not for sale, what do you think I am," Rahne stated two other men touching a strand of Jubilee's hair causing her to become highly agitated.

"Hey is this how you treat visitors, I don't want to be touched by you. I mean come on what's the big deal after all." Jubilee barked causing the men to hop back in surprise.

"I'm sorry it's just that I've never seen one with a look such as yours. Please why don't you let me buy you dinner or…" the younger man spoke a certain air about him as the others started to become worried about all of the attention they were receiving.

"I'm not going to tell you again don't touch me." Rahne barked this time her more aggressive side showing as she started to growl at the men.

"Come on little one, I'm offering you a 1000 denarius. That's more than someone like you could ever make, now why we don't…" the older man spoke until two people cut him off.

Ray and Sam both had heard enough from the man, stepping in between the man and Rahne while Jubilee fended off some more appropriate propositions. The small group looked around them; they were slowly being cut off. It didn't take long for them to figure out that running away from the growing mob would be best. The small group ran from the growing mob, attempting to get away from them.

"Hey pick up the feet a little Jubilee; I know its flattering for you to be sought after like this. I really don't like these guys, why do they keep on offering to buy me. Do I really look like that kind of person?" Rahne asked as she ran down the alley, the group heading directly for the palace.

"Not by our standards, but apparently these losers have nothing better to do. It might have something to do with your red hair." Ray yelled as they took the final turn that lead them back to the palace.

"Less talking more running please." Sam commented as the group finally made their way into the palace, the guards looking at them quizzically as they ran past them.

"I think we got another problem, we are lost." Tabby barked as the group stopped, looking to find a way back to the palace.

"Yeah this is definitely a problem; I don't want to be anywhere near that man. I'm not leaving the palace again without…" Rahne spoke as they could all hear the men yelling as they tried to locate the small group of people, their fascination with Rahne and Jubilee border lining on obsession.

It only took a moment for the group of five to take off again this time to the guest rooms that they had been assigned. They ran past a couple of old houses, finding themselves completely lost. They didn't even have a way out until a familiar little girl poked her face out of her house.

"Hey we could use your help, we got a big problem. We got these morons chasing us," Ray panted a little out of breath from all of the running they had done to get away from the men.

"Oh my, please come with me." Lacus said as she let the small group into her house so they could hide in relative safety.

"Thank you, your name is Lacus right; we really appreciate you helping us. " Jubilee said as she looked around the small rather impoverish house.

"Yes I'm Lacus; my mommy isn't here right now. Why were you being chased by those guys, you didn't do something wrong did you?" Lacus asked concerned that she had made a mistake by letting them in her mom's house.

"No we didn't do anything wrong, they were doing bad things. Do you think that you could take us to the palace, we need to get back there?" Rahne asked sweetly as she kneeled down to talk to the little girl.

"Of course I can take you there silly," Lacus started with a small smile, "my mommy works there, and everyone knows where the palace is, so why don't you?"

"We aren't from around here, so could you please take us there now." Tabby said just as sweetly, the little girl nodding her head yes.

"Ok come on," Lacus said laughing a little as she opened the door, leading the group outside.

Lacus was a quick little girl running around quickly while Tabby and the others followed her. They could still hear the men talking about searching for them, and it wasn't until something else happened did the men find them once more. Lacus was laughing and smiling as she ran along the path, turning around to make sure the others were still following her when she tripped. The young girl started to cry as Sam kneeled down picking her up with his arms.

"There now its okay I promise, I need you to help us get to the palace now. Please, I'll give you some candy," Sam spoke as Lacus stopped crying nodding her head as she pointed her hand in the direction of the palace.

"We are almost there," Lacus sobbed a little as she rubbed her knee, letting Sam carry her as they walked along the way.

"There they are," one of the men spoke, as the group of interested men had finally caught back up to them.

"Damn more running, remind me to never complain when we have to run with Brandon again." Ray yelled as they ran right past the palace guards heading deeper into the palace until they found Dani and the others sitting around.

Dani and the students that had decided to lounge around the palace instead of going out looked at the others as they stopped running sweat dripping from most of their faces. Sam put Lacus down carefully, the little girl still a little upset about tripping when they were making their way to the palace earlier. X-23 looked at them curious as to why the group seemed to be all sweaty and irritated.

"What's going on here, and why do you have her with you?" X-23 asked attempting to keep her growling to a frustration.

"No time for that, there are these freaks chasing us, I'll never complain about running again." Ray answered as Dani looked at him and the sweat dripping off of his face.

"Well you would think that with all the running we do when Brandon trains us you wouldn't be so out of breath," Dani spoke a little irritated by their so called emergency since she had been reading a book outside.

"I don't mean to interrupt or anything but who are those people?" Jaime asked as everyone turned to find the men once more, they had followed them all the way back to their rooms.

"For the last time," Rahne barked as the others attempted to calm her down, "leave us alone. I'm not interested in you."

"You just don't understand how things are…" the older man was about to say when someone stopped him, someone who wasn't happy.

"You better have a good reason for harassing my friends," Amara yelled as her voice immediately attracted the attention of the royal guards.

"Princess, please forgive us, we meant no…" the younger man spoke as he was cut off by Amara.

"It's too late now; you already offended them and me. What should I tell my father about a couple of nobles chasing after my friends for god knows what reason? I better like the reason to, or my father is going to mount you on the wall like his last prey when he hunted in the jungle." Amara threatened as the men started to converse amongst themselves to come up with a good reason.

"We are absolutely mesmerized by those two beauties princess," the younger man said as he pointed to Rahne and Jubilee, "we were just dealing with the particular like we nobles do."

"They aren't from Nova Roma therefore those rules do not apply to them because they were not born here. You would do well to remember the finer points of our laws. I won't tolerate them being harassed any more, and you do not want to know the consequences." Marcus bellowed as he appeared from around the corner, he had been summoned by the guards due to the commotion.

"Of course your highness, please forgive us." the group of men stated as they bowed twice before running away scared of the king's power.

Everyone watched as the two men were scared away by Amara's father, his tall intimidating presence made even a few of them uneasy. The man started to laugh as Amara shook her head; her father knew how to make his presence felt in some areas. Everyone watched as he turned his head looking back at his daughter's friends.

"Father why are you…" Amara started only to be stopped by her father stepping toward her friends.

"I was summoned by the guards when your friends ran in here being chased by that group of men. I also thought this would be a very good time to introduce myself and get to know the people that are your friends. I'm Amara's father, Marcus, the current king of Nova Roma. You can just call me Mr. Aquilla unless I'm on my throne or fulfilling my obligation as the king of this land." Marcus yelled so that everyone that was looking at him could hear his voice.

"Hi, your highness, I mean Mr. Aquilla, we were all looking forward to meeting Amara's mom and dad. She never talks much about home, and now a day all she talks about is Brandon. Those two are practically inseparable," Tabby responded her usual energetic attitude showing through as the others took their turns to introduce themselves to Marcus.

"Ah well it is very nice to meet all of you, I was looking forward to meeting all of you. Amara shouldn't you be checking with Brandon about his answer to what I said earlier, I would like to talk to your friends for a moment alone." Marcus said as his daughter seemed to accept his answer disappearing around the corner and heading for the room that had been assigned to Brandon.

"Uh no offense sir, but what are we going to be talking about exactly?" Sam asked as the king waited for his daughter to be completely out of range from hearing his conversation.

"I realize that I am going to be putting you in a hard position," Marcus started as he motioned for everyone to sit down, "I would like to know your opinions of Brandon, I would appreciate you being completely honest in what you think of him."

Dani looked at Marcus curiously before answering, "Brandon is a good person; he tries very hard to make sure that Amara is happy. He works hard but just like everyone else he has his problems."

"What kind of problems are we talking about?" Marcus questioned curious as to what kind of problems the young man had, naturally worried about his daughter's safety.

"Well I don't think we have a right to say anything about that, his problems are personal and it wouldn't be very nice if we just talked about him behind his back. It isn't very uh, what is the word I'm looking for, um honorable." Noriko answered as the others nodded in agreement.

"You don't have to worry about her being in physical danger; the institute is one of the safest places around. Besides Brandon is one of the strongest guys around, he was trained to be a marine after all. He would never let anyone hurt any of us if he could help it." Jaime commented attempting to put the man at ease a little, noticing that he seemed to be a little anxious.

"I see so Brandon looks out for all of you, but what exactly is this marine term you referred to. I've never heard of the term marine before," Marcus asked curious about the term they used in reference to the young man that was dating his daughter.

"Well a marine is like a specially trained soldier, like the most elite unit of warriors you would have here. In the United States they are among the best fighters in the modern world, unmatched by almost anyone. That's the best way I can put it, you might want to ask Brandon that question." Sam said thinking about what most of them knew of the marines, and also how Brandon acted from time to time.

"I believe I understand what you are saying, but I will keep it in mind for later on. I have kept you long enough however, please come with me. I'm certain that all of you are hungry especially after that chase. Ah and you can bring your young friend with you as well," Marcus stated kindly as he lead the large group to the royal dining hall.

"Food now that you mention, I'm starving." Ray barked almost mesmerized by the sheer thought of the food that was waiting for them.

"Oh yeah," Roberto chorused in the two barely a step behind the king.

"Uh Mr. Aquilla will Amara or anyone else be joining us tonight, or will it just be us?" Ms. Munroe asked concerned about Amara and the students if they had to participate in a state dinner.

"Uh no there wont be anyone else in the dining hall tonight," Marcus said as the servants opened the door leading into the room, "I don't want your young charges having problems again, or feeling out of place. I thought this would be best since they wouldn't know how to behave at a state dinner."

The others expressed a mixed amount of both joy and pleasure when they saw the feast that was waiting for them. A cornucopia of food ranging from cooked meat to fruit waited for them on the table, Ray and Roberto didn't even wait for the others. The two ran past Amara's father heading straight for the table grabbing pieces of meat and fruit as they saw fit before sitting down.

"Pigs, you would think they would have at least some manners and wait for the rest of us." Dani stated as she walked past Marcus heading for the food as well.

"Please eat as much as you need, and there is no need to worry about my daughter or Brandon. Those two will be eating alone tonight; they have a lot of things to discuss. It seems things might get very interesting for your stay here in my country. If you would excuse me," Marcus stated as he left the room quickly leaving them alone with all of the food that they could possibly eat.

In another part of the palace, Brandon looked out of his room's window at the jungle off in the distance. He closed his eyes some his mind replaying the last memory that he had from a real jungle. His eyes darted opened as the door opened and he readied an energy blast, stopping once he realized it was Amara.

"Brandon, are you okay? You look so pale and off guard, I've never seen you like this before. Please tell me is something wrong with your room, we can always have you moved to another room." Amara asked her voice full of concern as he just shook his head in response.

"No the room is fine just the way it is, I was just remembering a few things that are better left in the past. Also remembering how much I hate jungles, I feel the heat and intensity from here. The room is just fine, much better than some accommodations that I have had in the corp." Brandon answered as he looked around the ornately decorated room, even the bed was made out of bronze it seemed.

"Really I never thought that I would hear you say something like that, it almost sounds like that you are afraid of jungles. I loved it when my father would take me there to show me some of the animals, especially the monkeys." Amara replied as she tried to figure out why he seemed to dislike the jungle so much.

"I guess it wouldn't be so bad if you grew up here, I spent some less than friendly times in the jungle. I guess that's what I have to live with though, so how did your meeting with your parents go?" Brandon asked as he carefully sat down in one of the room's chairs.

"Well things went very well with them," Amara started as she nervously looked around the room avoiding eye contact, "but there are a few things that we are going to have to talk about, now that we are here."

Brandon looked at her curiously; he could tell that she was hiding something from him. Standing up he walked over to her, the girl was a really poor liar for the most part. Not that it mattered, he wasn't the best at lying either. He caressed her face with his right hand as soon as he got close enough, making sure that she looked at him.

"I know that there is something important you have to tell me, you have only avoided looking directly at me when you are nervous about something. Go ahead, I promise whatever it is I can handle it or at least I think that I can handle it. It can't be that bad after all." Brandon said calmly as she just wrapped her arms around him and started to hug him.

"Well you see in order for my father to approve of our relationship and for something that is very important to me he wants you to participate in this contest against the other nobles. You have to win this contest or well you don't want to know what will happen then, but my father won't let the contest happen unless both of us agree to it. I can't tell you anything about the contest unless you agree to it, just that if you do decide to participate you have to win." Amara stated as she held him close, turning her head so she didn't have to look directly at him.

"I see, what is this thing that is so important to you? If I know that then I can decide whether or not I should participate or not, I don't want to risk big without knowing all of the possible rewards." Brandon asked as she looked at him with a small grin on her face.

"I don't want to tell you that, it's a surprise for the future. Trust me when I tell you it is important to both of us though, very important to both of our futures." Amara replied as the young man closed his eyes to think about the situation.

"I need a little time to think about it, I'll sleep on it and tell you the answer for sure tomorrow. You probably already know that I'm going to agree to this little challenge though, if it is that important to you and this is the only way to get it. After all, who am I to deny a request of the princess of Nova Roma?" Brandon replied as she hugged him tight, the two just enjoying the little time of peace they had together alone.

Next Chapter: Expectations part 3

Brandon finds out what events make up the challenge, and that the first event will be held the very same day. The other New Mutants attempt to continue enjoying their vacation, but things aren't nearly as peaceful as things appear to be on the surface of Nova Roma.


	22. Expectations part 3

**AN: I'm very sorry for the delay, but it is a very hectic time for me right now. I have so many assignments due that its just well crazy. I'll try to do better, I hope every enjoys this chapter. Remember to review and let me know what you think about it. **

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The others smiled as they had finished their food; it hadn't taken them very long to finish off all of the food. They watched as one servant started to clear away the remains, she stopped as soon as Lacus and her eyes met. Lacus smiled as she jumped out of her seat running over to the servant. 

"Mommy, I helped them find their way back. I'm sorry; I left the house though so I could take them back here. It was important to…" Lacus said as she tried to talk her way out of trouble.

"That's okay Lacus," her mother interrupted softly; "I'm just glad you are okay, and I'm sure that you did the right thing. Now come along, I'm going to take you home and read you a story before you go to sleep."

"Yea a story, can we read the one about the evil demon getting banished again. I like that story," Lacus said as she was lead away by her mother, the others yawning after eating so much.

"Thank you very much Lacus, we really appreciate your help. I hope we see you again," Sam said as everyone else echoed his sentiment of the situation.

"Your welcome, can you come out and play with me sometime before you go? It's kind of boring since all the others kids are nobles and they never want to play with me. I think that deep down they do but they don't because of their mom and dad. Bye I hope we can play together soon." Lacus said sweetly, the others smiling as the little girl was slowly being led away by her mother down the palace hall.

They all watched as she was led away by her mom, a few of them yawning after such an eventful day. While most of them had a rather boring day of just lounging around, sun bathing, or reading that wasn't the case for all of them. Closing their eyes most of them decided to get some sleep, tomorrow would be a better day for them or at least they hoped so.

"Good night everyone, I'm going to sleep early tonight." Rahne said as the others remained still recovering from the food.

"Yeah I'm going to sleep as well, see you tomorrow. I'm tired after being chased around the city by some lunatic nobles." Ray barked as the others looked around deciding that it was time for them to go to sleep as well.

The second day of the Nova Roma vacation began with the dawn's light filtering into the palace's guest rooms. You could hear all of the grumbling as the visitors came out of their room a little disturbed at their early morning wake up by the sun. They gathered in front of their rooms as Amara appeared to lead them to the morning breakfast. Brandon was the last one to come out of his room, adjusting his collar shirt.

"Good morning everyone, my mother and father are waiting for us in the dining room. We are all going to be having breakfast with them today, and that reminds me my father wanted me to tell you that your little friend made it home safely." Amara spoke as everyone nodded their heads as she turned around the others following her.

"Hey Mara, what are you doing today? I was thinking that we could go out and have some fun today." Tabby said as she walked faster to catch up to her friend, Brandon quickly making his way to the front of the pack.

"I'm sorry I can't go out today, there is something important that is going to be starting. How about two days from now, I promise the two of us can go out and have some fun then." Amara answered as she stopped for a moment looking back to make sure everyone was there.

"Sure that's cool; I don't know what I'm going to do today though. Oh well I'm sure something will come up, maybe I could get some alone time with Sam." Tabby whispered to her causing the two to giggle some in response while Brandon approached them.

"Good today and tomorrow are just going to be very busy around here." Amara started as she walked over to Brandon, "Good morning, did you sleep well?"

"Good morning princess, I slept just fine, did you sleep well? Oh that reminds me, I know the answer to that question we talked about last night. This is going to be a very interesting challenge; I guess that all that remains is to tell your father." Brandon whispered as Amara nodded the two holding hands as they walked down the hall.

"I knew you would, you should know that one part of the challenge is a run through the jungle. It doesn't matter though; I know that you can handle it and everything else that comes your way. Tell my father at breakfast and I'm certain that after lunch we can at least get the contest started." Amara whispered back as he nodded the two entering the dining room together.

They all took seats carefully around the table, Brandon and Amara naturally sitting closer to her parents so they could talk. The rest of the students piled around the table, each of them taking all of the food that they could eat for breakfast. The two that remained the center of attention though barely ate as Amara' parents watched them carefully.

"I understand that there is a challenge of sorts that you would like me to participate in, I must say that I accept. Never turn down a challenge, that can show everyone what you can do, and I don't run away from any battle or challenge for that matter. If it is okay with you, I would like to get started as soon as possible." Brandon said as the others stopped eating paying careful attention to what was happening.

"Then I believe I can grant that request," Marcus started as he looked around the room, "I already have the event arranged for the most part since my daughter was so adamant that you would agree to it. We will begin shortly before lunch."

"Thank you for beginning this challenge in such a speedy fashion, I'm interested in winning this as quickly as possible. I won't lose this, not when this is so important to Amara. She won't tell me why but it is important so I will win." Brandon replied softly as Marcus looked at his daughter curious as to the reasons she hadn't told him the full truth.

"Very well I'll have the guards come get you when it is time for the first event. In the meantime Brandon I advise you to prepare yourself for an event that won't be easy to come out the winner. There are three events; you must have the highest finishing average in all three events to win. You have to finish all three events though; those are the only normal rules." Marcus stated as Brandon nodded his head in understanding, quickly absorbing what he considered the rules for this engagement.

"There is one last thing; we know you have a gift like our daughter. We hate to do this, but we are forbidding you from using it during the challenge. Unless it is an absolute emergency we can't allow you to use it, the challenge has to be fair in that part." Aria said as everyone seemed to be straining their ears to hear what was being said.

"Mother I'm certain that Brandon understands that, and I'm sure he will win this event very quickly. So father what will be the first event in the challenge?" Amara said apprehensively, she was very nervous despite her faith in Brandon.

"The first event will be traversing the jungle, it will weed out the contestants that aren't worthy of continuing. You will run from the starting line through the jungle and eventually back to the city gates where the winner will be declared. Be wary that this will not be an easy trip through the jungle," Aria spoke as her daughter held Brandon's hand in surprise at what they had chosen the first event to be.

"There is never a thing as an easy trip through a jungle, I know that from experience. This may not be an easy little trip but believe me I won't lose this event without a fight." Brandon said as the others started to become curious about what was happening.

Dani and the others looked on; none of them knew what was going on exactly. They all ate slowly as they tried to figure out what was going on, until they realized it was some kind of exercise event. The room didn't carry sound very well, so they couldn't hear the conversation between the four very well. They were all a little surprised when Brandon stood up excusing himself from the meal to prepare for the event that was today.

"Hey did any one hear anything about what is going on exactly?" Ray asked as X-23 growled slightly, she had been sitting close to the two and heard the entire conversation.

"They are having a contest of sorts," X-23 started as she growled slightly, "apparently it involves impressing her parents for him. At least I think that is what he thinks, but he doesn't know for sure."

"Why is he participating then, couldn't he just find another way?" Roberto asked curious as to why he was acting in that way.

"I believe it is because it is important to Amara, it makes sense at least to me. I don't know him as well as the rest of you though, that is what I think it is though." Dani answered as the others looked at her nodding in agreement.

"I think I'm going to go for a walk, there is a lot of time before the events start. Don't worry I'll be careful, I just want some time alone." Jubilee commented as she started to walk off, heading into the main part of the castle.

"Hmm I wonder what's up with Jubilee; she hardly ever wants to be alone. Do you think that she is okay, Sam?" Paige asked as the others started to decide what they would do in the meantime.

"I'm sure she will be just fine, Jubilee has a lot of spirit." Sam started as he looked over at his sister, "Everyone needs a little time alone, to get themselves together."

"I guess so, but I hope she comes back before the event starts." Paige replied as they all started to do their own activities.

Jubilee on the other hand walked down the hall of the palace carefully. She didn't want another repeat of what had happened with the nobles, eventually making her way to a small garden that seemed to be right off the palace grounds. She was even more surprised to find a small young man with blond hair taking care of the garden, his blue eyes not even noticing her as his hands worked the ground.

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't even see you there." the young man started as he finally noticed Jubilee, "not very many people come to this garden, so it's like my own little sanctuary. I also like to take care of it, how rude of me, my name is Dominic."

"That's okay, I was just passing through this part and I thought it was nice. You are a noble aren't you, why are you doing work like this? Why are you out here, shouldn't you be inside of the palace getting ready for this contest?" Jubilee asked as the young man continued to work, picking a small red flower.

"I probably should but I really don't want to participate in the event. This is just how I relax from the problems that I have from my own pressures. As for the challenge I'll just do my best that is all any one can do after all. Here for you, you look like someone with a lot on their mind." Dominic said as he handed her the small flower, smiling faintly as he looked over the flower.

"Oh thank you, it's just that there are a lot of things happening and I have a lot on my mind. Have you ever wondered if…oh I shouldn't talk about this with someone I just met." Jubilee replied as he just smiled starting to laugh a little in response.

"Yes I suppose that is true, but sometimes the best way to find your way out of a problem is to talk with someone that isn't close to the situation. I can't force you though, but we could always look at the flowers, they are very nice this time of year." Dominic said as he looked down at the flowers, looking around the garden carefully.

"Really you are kind of weird for guy, guys where I'm from really don't have any interest in flowers. It's kind of a girl thing where I'm from, girls love getting flowers from guys that they like. Why do you seem to like them so much?" Jubilee asked as the young man sat down on the ground.

"It's kind of simple; my mom loved flowers and before she passed on would take me out to play here. I always come here to focus on things and well I kind of like how peaceful it is here. There are no problems here; everything seems far away when I'm here. Look around I'm sure you will agree with me." Dominic answered as she took a seat next to him.

Jubilee looked around the grounds of the garden, finding it to be a very peaceful place. In a manner of speaking Dominic had been right, the place made all problems seem to be very far away. Closing her eyes slightly she took in the aroma before starting to laugh a little at her own actions.

"I guess I can understand that," Jubilee said as she placed the flower she had been given in her hair, "but my problems aren't as far away and well they just seem so big."

"Really well I think that you would actually like to talk about them, I would be more than happy to listen. I have plenty of time before the challenge starts and to be honest I wouldn't mind not showing up any way." Dominic replied as he lay back on the ground looking up at the sky.

"Well I guess it wouldn't hurt but only if you promise to never tell any one else. I don't want any one else to know what is said here." Jubilee commented as he continued to look up at the sky.

"I promise that I won't tell any one, you have my word. Unlike some of the nobles around here my word actually means something to me. Most of the nobles here have forgotten what it means to be noble to begin with." Dominic said as he waited for Jubilee to start talking about what was bothering her.

"Its just I can't believe how things have changed for me, especially since I returned to the institute. There are all of these relationships now, and well I'm kind of jealous of the girls that have a guy that returns their affections. The guy I like barely pays attention to me, but I just…" Jubilee trailed off as the young man she was next to listened to her intently.

"Ah I thought that might be what was bothering you, I heard about how the nobles treated you earlier. I'm very sorry about that, but relationships are such a fragile and difficult thing at first any way. It's only natural for those that do not have things to be jealous of those that do have. I am not the best person to offer advice on relationships though; I haven't had the best of luck in that area." Dominic said as he turned his eyes back to the clouds that were floating by.

"I guess that is true, I just want something more in life. You know that someone that helps you feel complete like what a few friends of mine have. The reason I am so distracted right now is that I'm starting to think things that really aren't my usual style of thinking. I'm normally so upbeat and optimistic, but I just feel so down and out right now." Jubilee said as she lay back on the ground as well, looking at the clouds with the young man.

"Really, well I think everyone looks for that and everyone has times where they aren't as happy or down a little. Maybe what you should do instead of getting down because of that guy is to find another guy you like that you wouldn't mind going out with. You never know, this guy you like right now may just be a fling or by finding a new guy it could help him realize what you mean to him. I'm sure you'll figure things out, some times you just need to talk things out." Dominic answered taking a deep breath after finishing his statement.

"You know what, you are so right. I really appreciate you listening to me this whole time." Jubilee started as she looked at the young man, "tell you what, would you like to show me around the rest of the palace?"

"I would like to do that very much, but could I show you around later. I would much rather just sat here and watch the clouds. Besides I have to rest up for the challenge later, can we just sit here for now. Besides it is a very nice day, and it will probably rain in the next two days." Dominic responded as she started to smile, the two were enjoying each others company.

"Sure, why do you want to participate in the challenge? You really don't seem the type that would do an athletic event like that. Especially after you said you wouldn't mind not having to participate." Jubilee questioned as she smiled the young man seemingly taking a nap with his eyes closed.

Dominic laid there on the ground seemingly uninterested in what she had just said. He sat up all of a sudden looking around the area, content that no one else was around to hear what he had to say about his participation in the challenge. He went back to his usual resting position before answering the question that Jubilee seemed to be waiting patiently for him to answer.

"The winner of this event will have a lot of power, and I want to use that power to make things better for the commoners here. You've seen how poor some of the people are here; I want to make Nova Roma better for its entire people not just those that were fortunate enough to be born into the noble families. That's why I have to participate; well it seems it is time for the event to begin." Dominic answered his face showing his determination for the event.

"Good luck Dominic, but I have to root for my friend Brandon. He's participating as well, and I really hope he wins." Jubilee said cheerfully as she didn't want to offend her new friend.

"I understand," Dominic started as he looked at her, "your friend Brandon, if I do lose do you think he would make things better for everyone. I know he and the princess are in a relationship, but I have to know if he would help relieve the commoner's plight."

"I'm certain that he would, he can't turn blind eyes to those that are in trouble. I better meet up with the others; can I talk to you again later?" Jubilee asked as the young man nodded his head before running off to get to the event on time.

"Yes, I look forward to our next talk, what is your name by the way? You never introduced yourself," Thomas yelled stopping before he could fully leave the area.

"I'm Jubilee; I can't wait for our next talk either." Jubilee yelled back in response as the man nodded leaving the area, Jubilee doing the same so they could make it to the event on time.

While everyone gathered outside, Brandon was escorted to the starting line by two guards. He wore a plain uniform that the New Mutants use to wear before his grandfather's upgraded uniforms were handed out. These uniforms were lighter and gave him increased maneuverability. He looked around checking out his competition, a large group of nobles there to participate, both young and old. One caught his eyes in particular a man that approached him slowly his black hair and pale skin setting him apart from the others.

'Must be a popular event to have so many people show up, I got to win as many events as possible. I don't want to leave any room for error, and some of these guys look like they could run about as far as I can throw. I better finish getting ready though; don't think about the damn jungle. Think of only winning for Amara, focus on that and ignore the damn over grown forest. What I wouldn't give for some napalm,' Brandon thought as he stretched out making sure that he was ready for the race.

"Well good sir, I assume you are the rumored man that has captured the princess' heart. I must admit that I was surprised that this was happening, all considering. I wish you the best of luck sir but this is a challenge that you will be losing. I should introduce myself though, I'm Leopold. I'm the future ruler of Nova Roma, and Amara my future queen or servant." Leopold smugly stated as Brandon looked at the man, he was thinking about punching him right then and there.

"Don't underestimate me, and never say anything like that again. I'll make sure you regret it," Brandon replied his thoughts focused on the race and now kicking the smug little bastard's ass.

"Excuse me gentlemen," one of the guards said as he approached them, "this way please to the starting line the event is about to begin."

'Hmm now let's see we start here at the hill, and then travel in a semi circle around to the other side. That's where we finish; from what I understood of the instructions this is a 4 mile run. That's a piece of cake normally, but this jungle. I got to focus on just running through and forgetting about the damn over grown forest. I can hear Alan now, what a wuss you are being afraid of a little jungle. We ran through a jungle with snipers trying to hit us in the ass and you are afraid of a little jog through one, yep he would say something to that effect.' Brandon thought as he attempted to psyche himself up for the run while following the guard.

Brandon and Leopold both followed the man to the starting line, about thirty other nobles there as well. Moving his head from person to person, he analyzed every single one of his opponents picking out the stronger ones from the weaker ones. Looking over from the jungle was a small cliff where the observers could watch the entire event.

"Please be careful Brandon, I know you don't like jungles but I know you can do this. I know you can do this, you overcame your fears before." Amara muttered the words barely coherent to everyone that was around her, looking over to see her father stepping forward to speak.

"Gentlemen I admire your bravery in coming forth to accept this challenge. You all know the rewards that await the overall winner in this challenge, and now at the end of my speech let the first event begin. Right now," Marcus bellowed everyone below him hearing his words and taking off.

"Don't worry Mara, Brandon will be just fine and he got a good start. I know for a fact that he won't lose, but I'll have Sam go down there and keep him focused." Tabby said attempting to comfort her friend, nodding her head at Sam.

"I'm on my way," Sam started as he walked away from the group of observers, "oh yeah don't worry Amara I know that he will win."

"Come on Brandon, pick up those feet and move it. Are you a marine or a snail? I've seen you go faster than that, so why don't you pick it up a notch." Jubilee yelled out in her own way encouraging the young man to move faster.

"Jubilee, do you really think that by provoking him that is the best way to get him to move faster? I mean it…" Paige stated as they all noticed the young man starting to move faster down below.

"I think its working Paige, he is moving faster, come on everyone lets get him to win this one in record time." Jubilee barked as they all nodded starting to root him on.

Brandon meanwhile worked his way through the jungle at the best possible speed. The former marine was keeping a good pace in his little workout, the leader of the race only two or three people ahead of him. He hopped over a few small branches, a larger problem presenting itself when they all had to stop to climb over a larger tree. He climbed over the fallen tree, a few people lacking the necessary physical skills to make it over the tree.

'Well so far so good, I just have to stay focused on the run. Don't think about the jungle, just focus on the run. I can't afford to be distracted not when Amara needs me to win, this is important to her I can't let her down. I will win,' Brandon thought as his anger started to cause him to move even faster, eventually over taking the third place runner and closing on the second one.

"I refuse to lose to you commoner; you aren't a noble how dare you attempt to keep up with us. Why do you try so hard, she is above you? You aren't worthy to even touch her, filthy commoner." Leopold shouted as he attempted to use psychological warfare as Brandon caught up with him.

"Whatever, I don't have time for you right now." Brandon barked as he started to run even faster, they were quickly approaching a clearing in the jungle.

'That guy is really starting to irritate me, but I have to stay at a steady pace. Remember all that running you did in the corp, and start pacing yourself now. You don't want to use all of your energy up in one burst, and then you won't be able to finish strong. There is only one guy ahead of me, and he is a lot faster than the others that much is sure. I won't lose; I'm going to win this one.' Brandon thought as he ran right after the man following his exact path while Leopold was hot on his tail.

"I'm going to catch you, you filthy commoner. How dare you pass me, I'm a noble, you should know your place you little bastard." Leopold yelled out attempting to get a reaction out of the man who was running ahead of him.

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response, if you would excuse me I have one last person to pass before I win. No need to stay back here, the sooner I finish the sooner I can get far away from this hell hole of a jungle." Brandon muttered mostly talking to himself to keep his mind off of the jungle.

Up on the cliff, the observers were all getting to see a very interesting and heated race. One man remained out front, with Brandon not far behind, and Leopold dragging up the rear of the lead pack. The rest of the pack was scatter throughout the jungle, but one of those three men would win the race. The others were to far back as Amara started to yell out in joy.

"That's it Brandon, I know you can catch him go get him!" Amara yelled as the other nobles looked at her before she returned to her dignify position, it had been a small mistake on her part to do that.

"Man I didn't know he could move that fast," Paige started as she grabbed a pair of binoculars, "he must be slowing down when we run as a group because I didn't know he was that fast."

"Well it makes sense, in order to be a marine you have to be able to move like that. I heard Alan say that he once cover 30 miles on foot in one day, he might have been bragging though. I wonder if it's true though, I'll have to ask him next time." Jaime replied as they watched Brandon finally get to the clearing, he was slowly gaining on the man in first place.

"Whoa look at that, they only have a couple of miles left until the finish line. Brandon looks like he is hanging in there, what do you think X-23?" Noriko asked as she looked through the binoculars that Paige had handed her.

"He'll win; it isn't much of a challenge against these people. They aren't exactly marines or soldiers that he is running against, just a bunch of over weight, spoiled brats." X-23 spoke as she looked down from the cliff, seemingly uninterested in the race.

"Yeah I guess so, but not all of them are that way. You have to be careful not to underestimate those around you X-23 and to keep in mind that we are also visitors here. So let's not insult any one," Ms. Munroe stated calmly the others nodding taking in what she had to say about the situation.

Marcus on the other hand watched the race through a primitive set of binoculars compared to what Paige and the others were using. The official judge was a trusted friend of the family, who could be counted on to be fair and neutral when it came to determining the winner. Looking through the primitive binoculars he watched Brandon move slowly but surely inching closer to the man in first.

"He is very talented; it seems so far he has managed to make it to the front. I must say I'm a little surprised, then again the upper nobles who are participating have really let themselves go. It seems that the young man is clearly superior in this event but I wonder if that will remain true in the other events." Marcus whispered to his wife, the two watching the event very closely.

"I must agree with you, he is in excellent shape. Its no real surprise, our daughter did have a lot of faith in him. She must have known that he was capable of doing this, but this event wont last much longer, its almost over. I'm surprised how quickly this event has passed, it has only been 29 minutes, and we are getting ready to have the first place finisher." Aria whispered back as the two watched the race continue through the jungle, only a mile and a half remained in the race.

"Yes this race will be over soon, but we have learned something important about the young man that our daughter loves. He is willing to do this, to go through this without even knowing the full reason. He is going out on a limb without knowing everything; it takes a lot to have faith in someone like that." Marcus softly replied as the two looked over to see their daughter secretly cheering Brandon on, she was suppose to at least have the appearance of neutrality in the challenge.

"Yes that is true, but I think our daughter is not doing a good job of who she wants to win. I can't wait to see how he does in the next two events, it should prove very interesting." Aria spoke as the crowd became silent to watch the finish that would be occurring right down the hill from them.

Brandon kept up his pace; he was slowly gaining on the first place man. Jumping over a few larger branches to make sure he didn't trip, he looked up finally seeing what he wanted to see. It was the finish line, this event was almost over. Brandon cut lose as soon as he saw the line, breaking out of his pace and running full speed at the finish line.

"I can't let you beat me, I have to win this event. I can't let things continue like this for the commoners. You won't beat me, I wont lose to you." the current first place man said as he ran faster as well the two running neck and neck with each other.

"I admit that you got some speed, but this isn't the time for a chat. Maybe after the race, I wouldn't mind meeting someone so competitive." Brandon commented as the two continued to run right next to each other.

'Hmm I got a bad feeling about running right next to this guy; he is going to try something dirty. Those squids use to do the same thing when we had the charity races, except for the SEAL personnel. He's going to try to trip me, unless I get in front of him before he can do it. Then again I could just be overly paranoid this time because this challenge is so important to Amara.' Brandon thought as he ran as fast he could pulling in front of the man before he could react to the situation.

"This isn't possible, how could you be that fast? Who are you exactly?" the man questioned as Brandon crossed the finish line, all of his friends and Amara cheering.

"I'm a marine; running isn't a problem for us. You did pretty well though, I got to say I thought this would be a lot easier, but you were decent competition. Oh yeah my name is Brandon, nice to meet you." Brandon answered as he offered to shake hands with the man.

"Thank you, but I can't lose the next event I have to win. I want to…it doesn't matter, excuse me I'm going to rest up for the next event. By the way my name is Dominic." Dominic said as he walked away, heading back into the city.

"Hey great job Brandon," Sam yelled as he approached Brandon, "I was coming to run along with you but I couldn't catch up to you in time."

"Thanks Sam, I appreciate the effort. I'm going to take a little rest though, that race was a lot harder than I thought it would be. Not to mention…" Brandon said trailing off as Sam ran over to him, the others working their way slowly down to congratulate his first win.

'I made it through the jungle without losing it, that's a good thing. I stayed focus the entire time but it helped that there wasn't any sounds that well reminded me of the battlefield. A flashback in the middle of the race would have been a disaster, and at least it was kind of short so I'm not as tired as I could be. This is a good way to start off, but I still have two events left.' Brandon thought as he took a seat on the ground and Sam sat down next to him.

Amara and the others had quickly made their way down to Brandon, her mother and father joining her. Marcus was a little surprised to find the young man sitting on the ground looking out towards the jungle. He didn't even seem to notice their approach despite the fact that he had looked directly at them, Amara ran forward to get their first giving him a huge hug to celebrate his first win.

"You did just great; I knew that the run wouldn't be a problem for you. I knew you would win this race; you didn't let your fear control you. You only have two events left and then well I'll tell you later." Amara said as she hugged him tightly, the others seeing him smile as he closed his eyes.

"Yeah I know you always believe that I can do it. I have to admit that at the beginning I wasn't sure I was going to make it, and I was a little worried that an old memory or two would pop up but it didn't, so when will the next event happen?" Brandon asked as she held him close, her father making his presence felt as the others gathered around him to hear the news.

"The next event will be held later today, after we determine everyone that has finished. The event will be a test to see just how brave and cunning you are, I will let my daughter explain the temple event to you. Also congratulations are in order for your first win, if you win the second event or get close to the top, chances are that a lot of challengers will give up." Marcus said as Brandon nodded, understanding what the man was saying.

"Thank you, I look forward to the second event as soon as I rest a little. I'm certain that Amara will tell me what she can about the next event. Here's hoping that the next event has the same results, me winning." Brandon replied as Marcus and Aria walked away from the others letting them celebrate a little.

"Hey you did great, so is there anything that we can do to help you prepare for the next event?" Jubilee asked as Amara finally let him go, content with resting her head on his shoulder.

"Actually there is something, I want you to watch over Mara here and keep on rooting for me. That and with a little food, how can I lose with all of this support after all?" Brandon rhetorically said as the others enjoyed his good mood from winning the first event.

"Sure thing, come on Noriko let's go get him some food and a bottle water from the Blackbird. I know you are tired from the race, so let us handle this." Paige said as the two ran off heading for the Blackbird, they were very eager to help.

"Hey Paige wait for the rest of us, you can't just run off like this with only Noriko. What am I going to do with her, she never listens to me?" Sam yelled as he ran after the two, Roberto and Tabby looking at each and then following him.

Brandon and Amara looked over as Ms. Munroe took a seat next to the two of them. She looked at the two of them carefully; she couldn't help but laugh at him. He had let his hair grow out some, but it was still close to the normal marine hair cut. The two of them were quite a picture together and she couldn't help but smile at what she considered young love.

"You did very well today Brandon, I'm impressed with how well the race went. I am a little concerned that you might be pushing yourself a little too hard, are you certain that you can handle two events in one day?" Ms. Munroe asked as he chuckled a little about the idea of pushing himself to hard.

"I'll be just fine Ms. Munroe, I think I'm just going to rest and wait here until the next event. It isn't everyday I just get to sit here with Amara and my friends without doing anything. Besides I kind of enjoy the peace right now, I'm just going to enjoy this moment right here and now." Brandon answered as he leaned back looking up at the clouds in the sky.

"Well I think I'll stick around to make sure you don't accidentally fall asleep. I don't want you to miss the next event; it would look bad if you didn't show up to the next one." Ms. Munroe replied as he smiled Amara, remaining suspiciously quiet during this time.

"The next event is the temple course; you'll have to carefully navigate your way through the temple. There are traps everywhere in the temple; you will have to be very careful with the traps. Once you make your way through the temple, you'll get to rest until tomorrow." Amara stated as she started to smile again, the young man she was sitting next to had turned some and rested his head in her lap.

"Sounds simple enough, anything else I need to know about the situation. I don't like going into the situation blind, it's a habit from my days in the marines. Going into an operation blind is very foolish, that's what Johnson would say any way. I swear he always knew what to do no matter what was happening." Brandon said as he thought back to some fonder memories.

"Well there is one more thing, this temple it's dedicated to a demon named Selene." Amara started as her expression went from happy to a little afraid, "She was a tyrant and dictator before my ancestors and the other people overthrew her. The reason that the race is held there is to spook some of the competitors into quitting."

"Damn that's all; I'm not worried about some dead tyrant. I mean she is long dead; there isn't anything to worry about from her and some temple dedicated to her. All things consider I don't see that as a problem, there are worse places than some temple of some women who has been dead for centuries." Brandon replied looking up at her trying to figure out why she was so scared now.

"I know its weird and you probably think that its stupid, but no one here go any where near that temple when the challenge isn't going on. To my people and me Selene is a demon from hell that can not die. Children are told stories not to go out at night for fear that Selene might come get them. Your religions have something called Satan; well Selene is our equivalent to him. " Amara said with a certain look of fear in her face that caused him to feel uneasy.

"Okay, I think I understand how you feel now. Don't worry about it any more, she isn't here and this little field trip through her temple isn't going to be that bad. I'll be just fine, so let's focus on the good things." Brandon commented as she started to feel more at ease.

"Amara, what is the final event after this one? I'm a little curious about what Brandon will have to through next. I hope he has enough time to prepare for it." Ms. Munroe spoke concerned about what effect the events were having on the young man.

"The final event is well, I can't say until it gets closer. Parts of the rules are that the events are chosen at random from a list of nine various events. I don't even know what the third one is yet, and I won't know until after the second one has been finished." Amara answered as the young man reached up with his hands to caress her face.

"That's okay Ms. Munroe, it doesn't matter what the next event is any way. I have to focus on the next one right now before I get to that one any way. That's how things go; I got to admit though that I'll be just fine. I'm in excellent shape Ms. Munroe; there is no reason for you to worry about me getting tired." Brandon commented as he enjoyed just laying there on the ground with Amara.

Ms. Munroe looked at him cautiously; she knew that he was in great health. It wasn't that part that was bothering her; it seemed the events were getting even riskier. She had been charged with taking care of the others including Brandon and now she just had to let the event happen. She couldn't help but worry as she watched a smiling Brandon enjoy his girlfriend using her hands to wipe away some sweat.

"You feel a little hot, I hope you aren't sick," Amara commented as she placed her hand on his head, "you really have to continue this; I know it sounds horrible but you just have to continue."

"Oh I'll be just fine, I'm just a little hot and sweaty from the nice little work out I just had. Believe me, I don't think I could get sick here if I even tried to, the marines injected me with enough vaccines to keep me healthy and immune from most diseases for a while." Brandon replied as he smiled at her carefully.

"Okay but don't you dare get sick, I want you healthy for the celebration once you win." Amara teased as he started to laugh at that comment.

"That's just fine with me, I don't like getting sick any way. Let's just take it easy right now though, I'm not in a hurry to be any where else for the time being." Brandon replied as Ms. Munroe looked on with a nice smile on her face.

"I don't mean to interrupt you two, but Paige and Noriko have returned with some food and water. You should take the chance to get this in before the events restart again." Ms. Munroe stated as the two nodded gratefully taking the food from their friends.

The two smiled as they enjoyed the time to eat their food, all of them taking the opportunity to rest before the next event started. It only took for a few more moments in Amara's lap to put the young man in semi sleeping state, Ororo laughing a little as she carefully kept a close eye on the time. It wouldn't be much longer before they would all head to the next event.

Next Chapter: Expectations Part 4

The challenge continues as things start to escalate in the royal games, and Brandon faces a uniqe problem. Dani and Rahne have a talk as things start to pick up and its all leading up to the beginning of the final event.


	23. Expectations part 4

**READ THIS FIRST: AN: Okay first of all I would like to say that Rahne and Dani conversation just couldn't make it into this chapter. I had what I considered a really good idea and put it in there instead, so that conversation will make it to the next chapter. On another more serious note, I am concerned about the lack of reviews that I have been receiving lately. I would like it if everyone reviewed, and I am in the process of getting a hold of a few people that I have noticed have dropped out of sight lately. On that note here is the next chapter and by all means enjoy. **

All of the competitors and spectators slowly made their way to the temple, the site of the next challenge. It was an imposing structure as they walked passed, a statue of Selene awaiting all of them at the entrance. She had a presence about her that caused nearly everyone to have chills with the exception of a few lesser aware individuals.

"Damn, she is pretty hot. No wonder this event is held here." Roberto said smugly as he gazed at that statue of Selene, the statue doing an ample job of showing off her cleavage.

"Yeah I got to agree with you there, but why are we getting all of these looks now? It's only a woman, what's up with the ice cold stares?" Ray asked as nearly everyone was staring at the two of them.

"Guys let me give you a little tip about her," Brandon started as he shook his head, "that statue there is Selene, she's basically this civilizations version of Satan. I got to say I'm not impressed though, you would think a devil or demon would be a bit more menacing."

"Damn, so that's the reason why we are getting the fifth degree from these people. Its not like I knew what she was, I just said she looked hot. Hey if they di…" Ray replied as Dani interrupted the three guy's conversation.

"You might just want to drop this one, you are just going to dig yourself in deeper. They are still staring at you, and if you keep this up they will end of chasing us out of the kingdom." Dani coolly interrupted as the three nodded their heads, Brandon immediately being sought out by the guards.

"Excuse me sir, but the event is almost ready to begin. If you would please follow us to the next starting line," the guard spoke as the others watch him lead Brandon away and to the starting gate.

"Hey Brandon good luck, we all know you can win. Isn't that right Amara?" Tabby yelled as her best friend just looked at him with a smile.

"Yes that's right, I know you can win." Amara said softly, attempting to keep her voice down so the nobles couldn't hear her.

Brandon merely nodded as he was led deep inside of the temple, the remaining seven competitors lining up in front of a single hall. He looked up instinctively seeing a few areas for spectators just like the last place. Looking around he carefully took in the surroundings of the temple, it had been built primarily of stone and it had a definite smell of danger.

'I can see why they don't come here; this place is creepy even by modern standards. Are those gargoyles, Amara said that Selene was twisted but those things look evil. I don't know what place is worse the temple or the jungle, but there is an advantage to this one. Oh well screw this place, I'll just do whatever it is I'm supposed to do and finish before these other guys hopefully. I wouldn't mind burning this temple to the ground, talk about creepy.' Brandon thought as he noticed a few stone gargoyles looking over the area.

"You won't win this time commoner, I'll beat you for sure and take what is rightfully mine." Leopold barked as the remaining contestants awaited the king's instructions.

"Ah here are our remaining challengers, listen well for the rules of this event are simple. In the chamber ahead there are three paths, and naturally these paths are filled with traps of the deadly variety. Find your way through these paths and to the central chamber, the first one there will be the winner. That is all you will begin in five minutes." Marcus bellowed as the challenges all prepared themselves for the beginning of the event.

It didn't take long for the event to start, the challengers running down the hall and into the central chamber. Dominic and Leopold ran straight ahead, heading into the central tunnel while Brandon followed them close behind. The three were surprised when they reached the end of the tunnel finding a room full of spikes with no apparent way across it.

"Damn that's a long way down, and I'm not interested in dying just yet." Brandon muttered to himself as he judged the surrounding area, finally finding a way across the pit in the form of a small ledge on the side.

"Ah so that is the way across this event, I thank you for showing me the way stupid commoner." Leopold yelled as he quickly started to traverse the narrow path, Brandon and Dominic not far behind the two.

"This is not good," Dominic said as a small piece of the ledge fell away, "I don't like this little event but I will not surrender or die here."

"That's fine by me, I like a challenge and at least you keep it decent unlike that little bastard Leopold." Brandon replied as the three continued to cautiously traverse the small ledge.

The three men that had the best chance to win the challenge overall had all went to the central tunnel. It was an interesting sight watching the three cautiously move over the small ledge, slowly but surely making their way to the other side of the room. Amara and the others had finally made their way to the spectator section that used to be for Selene to watch and torture people that had made their way into her temple.

"Well I am certainly glad that this little observation area was constructed by Selene, we get to see the entire event without having to move much. I have to admit he is very quick on his feet by choosing the center path." Aria spoke softly as the nobles watched on with excitement; it wasn't uncommon for a little betting to occur.

"That is true, but I think for the three of them it has become sort of a rivalry of sorts. I think that the next trap will be the determining factor; whoever gets past it first will most assuredly win the stage. It seems the betting has gotten much more interesting now that the field has been narrowed some." Marcus responded as the two looked over seeing the largest cheering section belonging to Brandon.

"Damn this is getting really good, it's almost better than shopping, well almost better." Tabby yelled as she and the others watched the three finally making it past the chamber and entering the next chamber.

"Yeah I know, it reminds me of those Indiana Jones movies, all we are lacking is some nope there they are," Ray yelled as the three men started to run from a couple of rather large boulders that had started to roll towards them.

"Come on Brandon I know you can do this, I know you won't let me down." Amara muttered softly as she maintained her composure and neutrality in front of the other nobles.

Brandon gasped for air as the three finally made it to a chamber where the boulders wouldn't be able to follow them. The boulders crashed into the doorway, smashing against it but not entering the room. All three of the competitors spent some time catching their breath as they all looked around, the room looked rather harmless. In fact based upon what they could see there was absolutely nothing special that stuck out in the room.

'I can't see anything to great about this room, but something does feel off. I don't know why but I get this feeling that something isn't right in here. Relying solely on what I see though can be a disadvantage and you know this room isn't going to be trap free.' Brandon thought as he slowly looked around the room only noticing an abnormal amount of pillars.

"Ha there is nothing in here; I'll see you two pathetic losers later at the finish line. You can just give Amara to me there." Leopold barked as he ran forward heading straight for the exit that led to the central chamber.

"No don't do that Leopold." Dominic yelled until Leopold stopped when his foot pushed one of the floor tiles down, "you don't know what will happen."

"I've got a damn good idea what will happen now," Brandon yelled as the room started to shake the pillars starting to fall over the place.

All three men started to run towards the exit, dodging pillars when they could as the room continued to shake. Brandon dove forward diving under a few pillars before they fell, pushing forward as the pillars fell all around them. Leopold smiled as Dominic ran in front of him, the more devious and less honorable noble coming up with a plan of action. Leopold pushed the young blond man hard, his ankle cracking as he collided hard into the stone floor.

"Leopold you bastard, don't leave me here," Dominic yelled as Leopold ran off, and entered the final chamber, "I don't want to die."

"Hang on," Brandon barked as he ran forward picking the smaller man up and running around and dodging the remainder of the pillars.

"You should leave me here; you would have a better chance of catching up to Leopold if you did. The chance of you winning increases if you don't have to carry me through the remainder of the course." Dominic said somberly as he was carried by the man into the last part of the course.

"I would like to do that, but it wouldn't be the right thing to do. I don't leave people behind who aren't my enemies, and well if you take a look at your ankle you aren't in any condition to move yourself. I may lose this event but I will not sacrifice others to win like he did; besides there is still the final event." Brandon replied as his new friend looked down to see a swollen ankle from Leopold's little push.

In the spectator booth a slight murmur started to grow as the nobles witnessed the odd act. No one had ever bothered to save one of their fellow competitors in this particular stage due to how dangerous it was. Now the man who none of them had taken seriously was carrying one of their own to the finish line. They were all in a flurry of speeches as Marcus, Aria, and Amara looked on in surprise.

"I never expected him to do something like this; no one has ever done anything like this before. Why would he save someone that he is competing against him for such a valuable prize? Why risk doing that and getting a lower place?" Marcus questioned a mixture of fascination and confusion entering his mind.

"That's the way Brandon is father," Amara said as she watched him getting closer to the finish, "he would never leave someone behind that was important. He will always try his hardest to make sure that everyone makes it back, even if it costs him. It's one of his more attractive qualities."

"I must admit while that is an interesting quality, it may cost him a lot position wise. He has gone from first to third place, I hope he finishes soon before any one else catches up to him. What Leopold did while completely out of line was well within the rules for the event after all, so I guess in this case his quality will cost him." Aria commented as they watched the two finally make it across the finish line.

"Man of all the times for that marine spirit to show through and he picks now. Well at least he is still in there with a third place finish, but man this just sucks. I can't believe what that guy did to Dominic in order to win that stage." Jubilee yelled a little frustrated by the lousy turn of events for the two.

Brandon smiled as he crossed the finish line, Leopold waiting their smugly while another lesser known challenger had beaten him to second place. The second place finisher however did not look as good as the man puked all over a corner of the temple. Placing Dominic down carefully, taking the time to look over his injuries. Brandon ripped off a piece of the older uniform, carefully wrapping it around the ankle as the two waited.

"Why did you do that, you would have…" Dominic started as he stopped once the makeshift bandage was in place to hold the ankle in place.

"It doesn't matter, I still finished and I'm still in this challenge. Cant say much for the other challengers though, most of them don't look so well." Brandon commented as he pointed at the second place and fifth place finishers.

"Yes it looks like there was quite a surprise waiting for them, but I am sorry to say that I will no longer be competing. My dreams have sadly enough came to an end," Dominic stated as he looked down at his swollen ankle, neither of the two paying attention to the approaching crowd.

"I would like to congratulate the winner Leopold," Marcus started as everyone turned their heads to listen to the man, "the remaining competitors willing to compete will find the final event in the coliseum. The battle or battles will commence tomorrow morning at dawn."

"I understand tomorrow at dawn, I'll be looking forward to this especially if I get to face that little bastard." Brandon barked as he pointed at Leopold who was celebrating his win with his family.

"Just remember that no one is allowed to fight each other until the event begins. Any one found fighting the other challengers will be automatically disqualified from the competition." Aria whispered to the young man, as he nodded in understanding after hearing the words.

"It seems we only have two challengers left, the others are incapacitated or to sick to continue. Tomorrow morning it will be Leopold versus Brandon in the coliseum, good luck gentlemen. I look forward to seeing how this battle goes tomorrow." Marcus said as the judge had just finished giving him a list of people able to continue in the challenge.

"Oh I can't wait for this, I'll show you how things are done here commoner. You don't stand a chance against me; after all I am of noble birth. How could a commoner possibly beat me?" Leopold bragged as the two started to stare each other down.

"You have no idea who you are messing with, you can take your holier than thou attitude and shove it up your ass. Actually hold off on that, I'll put it there myself after I kick your ass." Brandon yelled back the two being separated by a group of guards.

The two were carefully separated by the guards, Leopold being led away by them. Brandon looked around the area carefully as his friends surrounded the young man congratulating him on another finished event. He nodded to Amara as he motioned for them to help carry Dominic out of the temple. They all walked back slowly on a path that had clearly had all of the traps conveniently removed.

"Brandon ya did a great job today, ya even went back for this guy even though you didn't have to. I already know why ya did it though, so how do ya feel now?" Rahne asked as he walked alongside them, they were almost out of the temple.

"I've felt better, but I'm satisfied with the results. All I have to do is make sure that I win the next event and then I win this challenge. All things considered this is a good day, and now its time for a well deserved rest for me." Brandon answered as he finally made it back outside, taking in a deep breath of the fresh air.

"You didn't do that bad, but you should have won. I'm glad you went back for Dominic though, he's a good person." Jubilee said as Ray and Roberto got stuck carrying the injured young man back to the city.

"Really so do you know this guy or something? I didn't think you would know him, since the rest of him just met him." Dani commented as everyone looked at Jubilee for an answer.

"What, don't look at me, we just met for a little while before the first event. We are just friends and that's all." Jubilee justified as everyone looked at her with a mild look of surprise.

"Whoa so that's what you were up to when you went for a walk alone. Wait to go girl, he's a decent looking guy," Tabby yelled her spirit showing through as Jaime used his duplicates to take over carrying the young man.

"I would appreciate it if you could keep it down some, I don't feel very well." Dominic said as pain went through his leg.

Everyone laughed as they finally made their way to the city gates, Amara pulling Brandon aside for a more private chat. The two of them started to head back to the palace; as the others stopped for a moment to talk about what they should do with the remainder of their day. Rahne stood out as she looked around the city, after what happened she really wasn't interested in going back into the city.

"So what else should we do now that things seemed to have calmed down? I'm kind of interested in going into the city; it would be nice to see everything that this place has to uh offer." Noriko said as everyone looked at the blue haired girl.

"I don't think that would be a good idea, if they thought Rahne and I were prostitutes, I don't know what they would think with your hair and arms. There isn't much you are missing any way, well the only exception being they do have a few good things at the bazaar." Jubilee replied as everyone nodded their heads in agreement.

"Well I wonder what how this next event will go, I'm sure Brandon will do just fine. Maybe we should plan a little celebration for him after he wins this last event, it would be something that we could do, Noriko." Paige said as Jaime looked at her blond hair, almost zoning out a little.

"Yeah and I'll help the best I can, because I know Brandon will win. He's to cool and strong to lose to someone like that." Jaime commented as his two other duplicates also answered as Rahne smiled at the sight she was seeing.

"Yeah ye are probably right, so I guess we have something to do tomorrow. At least I do, I'm going to go root him on at this little event and then make sure a nice party to celebrate is thrown. I think I'm going to go for walk in my other form, I get a little uncomfortable if I don't change into it every once and a while." Rahne commented as she went down the hallway making sure that no one saw her transform into her other form.

"I wonder what is going with Rahne; she seems a little upset about things." Paige said as she looked on concerned about what was going on with her friend.

"I don't know little sister; Rahne is a very private person for the most part. Very loyal to her friends though, so I'm sure she will be fine once she relaxes some." Sam said as the others nodded in agreement except Dani.

"Hmm that could be true, but I think I'm going to go check on her. If it is okay with you Ms. Munroe then I'll check up on her and help these two out if they need me." Dani retorted as everyone turned to see the sole adult that had came on the trip.

"That's fine Dani; make sure the two of you are careful while you are out. I expect the rest of you to stay in the palace; I don't want a repeat of what happened earlier with the noble men. If there is anything you need be sure to let me know, since this was your idea I'll let the two you handle it." Ms. Munroe stated as she decided to let Paige and Noriko plan the party.

**Undisclosed Location in the United States**

Alan Fitzgerald waited impatiently inside of a dark room, leaning back in one of the many chairs that surrounded a round table. He played with a 9mm pistol as he pretended to shoot targets as he seemed to be just messing around until a loud boom echoed throughout the room. Looking over to the door, he smiled the three people he had been waiting for had finally arrived.

Alan looked at them cautiously before finally speaking, "About damn time, how long did you expect me to wait here?"

"Hiya boss, dontcha have any patience? I told ya we would be here yep." One of the men spoke a clearly southern accent coming through as the others took seats around the table.

"Yeah, whatever, did you bring what I asked for? You should have…" Alan barked he was short tempered due to the fact he had been waiting for so long.

"Ah just hold yalls horses," the man interrupted as he slid a disk across the table to Alan, "there now ya got it so stop your damn belly aching."

Alan glared at the first man; he was young and a short man at that. About 5'8, his name was Samson, but the fact was everyone called him Cutter. They all knew how he received that nick name as his light skin and bright red hair seemed to shine in the darken room. His southern accent aside, he was considered the hick of the group, but still very dangerous.

"The only one that sounds like that is you, you stupid hick. Sorry about that sir, please continue." a woman spoke as her voice coolly cut through the conversation.

Alan nodded as he slid the disk in a projector coming on for all of them to see before continuing, "This is all you brought me, not your usual amount Cutter."

"Well excuse mae, Ah'm so damn sorry that ah can't run around gathering intelligence without getting busted like the rest of ya. Be happy that ya got that ya arrogant maniac." Cutter replied as Alan grunted in disgust at the low level of information he had received.

"Stop your jawing Cutter, he's the one in charge not you. If you followed orders better this wouldn't be a problem," the young woman spoke again as she slid a disk she had brought across the table, "compliments of the Joint Chiefs even though they have no idea I took that data."

"Hey ya the one with a stick up her ass, and ya surely shouldn't be telling mae about followin orders. Maybe if you got some your attitude would make an adjustment," Cutter replied as Alan slammed his fist on the table causing both of them to stop.

"Not bad Leah," Alan responded as she nodded curtly, "let's take a look at Cutter's stuff first."

Leah merely nodded as she took off her own hat, a pair of piercing blue eyes and she wore her short black hair in a strict military regulated hair cut. Leah was the shortest person there at 5'5 and her tan skinned seemed to fade into the darkness; she had been the first woman to ever survive Force Reconnaissance training. The feat was so spectacular that her entire career and training had been classified to the point that she didn't even exist any longer. Her muscular build was clear considering she was wearing a basic marine uniform, which showed off her muscular arms and a couple of tattoos on her right arm of a tiger and dragon fighting.

"Ah right, well here's the first thing I found rummaging through General Ayers' files. Got to say the ole generalissimo has been a busy guy, Ah ma sorry to report though boss that ah couldn't find a thing on Brandon in his normal files. Ah didn't have enough time to break the encryptions on the rest of em." Cutter said as he brought up some of the information that he did receive.

"Get to point Cutter, what's the good general planning?" Leah questioned as Cutter just shrugged his shoulders.

"Bah your guess is about as good as mine, Ah'm still trying to hack the encryption but it is taking mae a while to get it done. Ah had to get some trusted outside help to handle that part. The other part about that code, uh what was it, LTGA-13986 Alpha." Cutter spoke as the others looked over at him.

"Yeah that's the little wonder code General Ayers stuck in Brandon's record. I've never seen anything like it," Alan commented as Cutter nodded his head in agreement.

"Weird oh yeah, but ya want to see something even more unusual. Ah was doin some searchin through the database and Ah stumbled across this. Brandon boy it seems has a special clause in his little discharge that the good ole general slipped in for some reason. Provides for an instant reinstatement in certain situations, got to admit scheming and backstabbin seems to be a military course lately." Cutter replied as they all looked at him carefully.

"What about the code you idiot, did you find anything on it?" Leah asked losing patience with the rather abrasive man.

Cutter laughed at before answering, "Keep ya skirt on Leah, Ah got what Ah could about that code. It refers to somethin called LS, Ah did a search on LS and there was absolutely nothin there, not even a paper trail. One thing you can say about General Ayers, the ole man knows how to bury projects."

"Yeah the old man excels at playing people, but the fact he was planning on using his own grandson means the man has been planning something for a while. He acts the loving protecting grandfather around Brandon, but the rest of us know the man will protect the nation with everything he has." Alan quipped quickly as the others nodded in agreement.

"He's an honorable man for the most part Alan; I realize you have your differences with him though after that last mission you did for him. Unlike some of the other Joint Chiefs he doesn't see us as merely statistics when we die." Leah acknowledged as the others nodded.

"Man Ah hate all of these damn schemes, is there a general in this nation that doesn't scheme," Cutter started as he watched Alan take out his disk and replace it with Leah's, "I don't think any one knows what Brandon's ole grandfather is up to, he has a whole helluva lot of secrets and more than a few skeletons hidden in the closet most likely."

The projection changed to Leah's disk as the image of a huge military installation complete with factories. The factories seemed to be working in high gears as the factory seemed to churn out a few sentinels in the down time. The little video stopped as they watched a photo of a huge production line appear, causing all of them to bow their heads.

The projection changed as Alan and the other two men gasped in response all of them barking out, "What the hell is that?"

"That sir is the military's official sentinel plant in Area 53, outside of Helena, Montana. Project Codename: Overload, it turns out sentinels like factories turned out tanks in World War Two. At current estimates if it ever reached full production it could easily turn out 200 to 300 sentinels a day if staffed 24-7. The place is a very inviting target but not a target of priority currently; it would take more resources than we have available to destroy the facility." Leah answered as the group shook their head in response to the images that had been brought up first.

"That's just not right yep, but did they fix the problems with the first batch?" Cutter asked as he looked over the statistics that she slid over to him.

"Unfortunately the sentinels are gradually being perfected, the weaknesses that the last batch had have been dealt with to a point. These models still lack heavy armor but as I stated earlier we don't have the resources to do anything about the plant currently. I do however know the General in charge of the plant, take a look at this." Leah commented as she pressed a button causing it to display something new.

Alan growled as a picture of Army General Wells and General Kincaid appeared before speaking, "I assume this means that these two are behind the buildup."

"Not exactly sir, Wells yes, Kincaid I'm not so sure about." Leah started as she looked at the man she considered her superior, "I got as much information on Kincaid as I possibly could like you wanted me too. The man is a total mystery, I can't figure out why he is supporting this Master character. It doesn't add up since he supposedly hates mutants, there are a lot of possibilities but none of them are very logical."

"I'm not surprised Wells is involved, you might as well hand him a Friends of Humanity membership card and give him a 'I hate mutants' t-shirt. I've got no doubt this new Friends of Humanity group that has been making appearances lately has Wells' backing." Alan said joking half heartedly as he looked at the two's picture.

"That wouldn't surprise mae, Wells is a bastard, say the word and Ah'll gut him like a deer." Cutter said as he pulled out a Kabar knife and then rammed it straight down into the table.

"Leave him be for now, but lets try to keep an eye on him. The man is a pain in the ass but I want to get proof before we do anything about him, besides I want to know what he is up to. Not that I wouldn't mind seeing Wells take a dirt nap, but lets focus on Kincaid for the moment." Alan commented as he started to regain his cool tactical edge that he normally had.

"Besides Cutter you idiot," Leah started as she looked at the red haired man, "how do you think the Joint Chiefs would react when they learn that we have abandoned our posts and have gone rogue. An assassination squad being sent after us would be just the first step for them, face it we know way too much and eventually they will try to eliminate us."

"Agreed for the time being we must stay in the shadows that is where we must stay for the moment any way." the only man that had remained silent spoke his voice ragged and deep as he said those words.

"Right now we just can't afford to make very many open moves, especially with the low amount of support we have. Back to Kincaid any ideas what he is up to now?" Alan asked as Leah moved on to the next amount of data.

"I will get to that momentarily sir, but we have another problem to deal with before him. I found this while going through the data at the NRI mainframe; three days ago someone copied and transmitted the security footage from the NRI assault by Reaper to another location." Leah commented as everyone around the room looked a little surprised by that notion.

"Don't tell mae that…"Cutter spoke as Leah cut him off before he could finish.

"Yes, it is unfortunate but I tracked the footage to an unsecured server where it was then burned onto a DVD rewritable disc. Most unfortunately however I have since discovered that the disc has been sold to one national news outlet and they intend to run with it soon. I have managed to slow them down by having you know who hack their computer systems." Leah spoke as the others bowed their heads in discontent.

"Man what the fuck ever happened to national security, if that thing gets on the air anti mutant tension is going to go through the damn roof. Especially if they mess around with it and alter what really happened there." Alan roared as the others nodded in agreement with his sentiment.

"Yep but boss man what are we a gonna do about this, we can't exactly do anything can we?" Cutter asked as the four people looked around the room avoiding his gaze.

"That is true, but what is even more interesting is how the footage was hacked and retrieved. My opinion is that it was by this Master fellow simply because the footage was hacked shortly after the assault at the Xavier Institute. It could also be that Wells is behind it since we all know his feelings about the mutant populace. The problem is that I have no evidence to support my opinions." Leah said coolly as she stated her suppositions about the hacker.

"Too sloppy for Wells, he likes things clean cut. It makes sense to mae, if this Master fellua did it. Ah nice little plan, if ya can see the whole picture." Cutter muttered as Alan looked at him curiously.

Alan continued to stare at the wall before speaking, "I don't know about that, this Master guy has proven to be very resourceful but it wouldn't fit his operating policy. It would make him known to the world, and he has been very careful to keep himself and Reaper out of all news feeds. Wells on the other hand, would take advantage of something like this to rally anti mutant sentiment and begin a campaign of extermination. It might not be either one though, there are a lot of bad people in the world and those two are just the tip of a very large iceberg."

"We are no closer to figuring this out, poor little Brandon no matter what he does, he always seems to get the raw end of the deal. He does the right thing and he gets kicked out of the military, then it is going to be used to make him a traitor. Then he finds a nice place to stay and war follows him there to the Xavier Institute. It just isn't fair to him, but I guess if he was having a normal life we wouldn't be here right now." Leah pouted as she started to think about the friend the four shared in common.

"Ah poor little Leah still has the hots for Brandon boy, too bad he is taken now huh Leah? Ya could have some fun with him, he could have…." Cutter said a crooked smile on his face only stopping when a knife flew across the room embedding itself in the wall behind him.

Leah's face went to a nice shade of red as Alan started to laugh at her reaction. The three guys watched as she stood up and was almost ready to run over there and beat the hell out of Cutter. She sat back down quickly, her face returning to her normal shade of color. An icy cold stare came out of Leah's eyes as she glared at Cutter, the knife still embedded in the wall behind him.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this; hey I'm going to go get a beer, any one else want one? I don't want to be here, you think a woman's scorn is bad, that's nothing compared to a Leah scorned." Alan joked as he and the other guy quickly evacuated themselves from the room.

"I'm going to kill that man by the end of the week, how could Brandon ever have befriended that idiot. Oh well I'm one to talk, Brandon collects the most unusual friends for the most part." Leah started mumbling to herself before yelling at Cutter, "You stupid idiot, he's a friend that's all and besides he's got a very serious relationship with the princess."

"Whatever ya say darlin, heya felluas can we get back to work now." Cutter yelled as he watched Leah continuing to give him an icy cold stare as the other two re-entered the room.

"The way I see it," Alan said as he took a swig of his beer, "there isn't much we can do about this footage. It was bound to get out sooner or later."

"Ah know, it just sucks, but there really isn't a damn thing we can do to stop the press from releasing the footage. After the Pentagon Papers case, it made it legal to receive classified material legitimately through a third party. Not a damn thing we can uh do about that." Cutter said rather disappointedly, thoughts of slaughtering news reporters running through his mind.

"Right now all we can do is try to delay the footage," Alan said as he finally went back to his main topic, "now what can we do about that rat bastard Kincaid. He's playing every side almost and we need to put a stop to it."

The others looked around the room as they thought about the situation. Things were definitely looking down with the increase in production of sentinels and the hacking of a classified military database. The four looked at each other, none of them seeming to know what exactly to say. Leah was the one who broke the silence as she leaned back in her chair.

"The problems is I can't find the hole the rat is hiding in, if we could find him we could exterminate him. I've gone through every contact I trust and there just isn't anything on his movements in the Pentagon." Leah commented as Alan and Cutter grunted in frustration.

"That's just great we are dealing with a fucking Houdini general. I don't understand how he can just slip away from us like this, that bastard is a lot more clever than I thought he was." Alan spoke as his rage started to build at the mere thought of Kincaid.

Cutter smiled as he looked at his seething boss before replying, "Guess you really don't like Kincaid for siding against Brandon and stopping you from rescuing those kids. You took that one that died personal, which is something we shouldn't do in our line of work."

"Cram it Cutter, usually I wouldn't mind your attitude, hell I'm normally like you at times. Today is different though, today I need to know where that bastard is hiding." Alan roared as they were interrupted by their less talkative member.

"I know where Kincaid is hiding," the other man spoke his deep voice echoing through the room; "he's at the secret military base at Point Five. I tracked him there a few days ago, and we also have the perfect opportunity to nab the little rat bastard as you call him."

"Well, well Hammer; it's a good to see ya can still contribute to this little party. Ah thought you might have died or taken a nap on us old timer." Cutter responded as he joked with the much larger man.

Hammer was a huge man as his nickname so implied, at 6'9 he was literally a giant compared to the rest of them. Unlike the rest of them he was bald, his physical strength was astonishing, but the real surprise was the fact that a genius hid beneath the rather large and quiet surface. Three scars were visible across his throat as the lights in the room came on. The big man had been injured badly there, and it now hurt for him to speak vocally. His only saving grace was the fact that a young 19 year old lance corporal named Johnson had gone back for him.

"Please Hammer, you can write the rest down. We all know that after…" Leah spoke as Hammer raise his large hand to interrupt her.

"That will not be necessary, Kincaid will be returning to Washington to meet with Wells in two days. It is the perfect time to perform a capture mission, and to finally interrogate the true traitor. Please send me; I look forward to talking with him as well." Hammer said as the others smiled, the big guy still had it despite his injury that had kicked him out of the corp.

"Sorry big guy, but I can't have you appearing so suddenly yet. It is about time we got some good news for a change; a small group of two should handle this mission. I'll be going since I've been meaning to have a little talk with Kincaid any way." Alan said as a small evil grin crept across his face.

"Yes we can't just start showing up in a large group or the Joint Chiefs might get suspicious. We have to stay in groups less than two, or they will definitely think something is up when we start appearing together. For now I think we should take this chance to detain Kincaid." Leah said as she analyzed the situation while the others looked on.

"Fine by mae, just be sure to keep him alive, right Leah? We need to question him first, and Ah'm sure Xavier would like a shot at him. They are still tryin to locate those former Brotherhood members using computer programs and that Cerebro doohickey." Cutter said as Alan merely nodded in agreement.

"And how would you know that Cutter," Leah stated a look of concern on her face, "you better not have been pulling that peeping shit on those young innocent girls that live there or I'll gut you."

"Perish the thought darlin; Ah was just keeping an eye on the place like the boss told me too. Why do ya always…" Cutter said before he was cut off by Hammer, the larger man stopping him.

"That's because you are low enough to try something that dishonorable. Not to mention the only man that would be able to find you since Xavier is occupied would be Weapon X. You should know if he, Alan, or Brandon catches you peeping and they don't kill you I will." Hammer stated as he stood up quickly walking over to Alan.

"Damn okay big fella, no need to get all psycho on mae. Ah would nevar do something like that, most of the available ones are too young any way. Besides if I caught a glimpse of the princess, Brandon wouldn't hesitate to well kill mae." Cutter spoke as he walked over to Alan as well, Leah not far behind.

"Whoa wait a minute, Cutter you said Xavier was looking for the Brotherhood members," Alan barked curious as to what the Professor was doing," you know why the Professor is looking for them?"

"Uh well boss I don't know why he is searching for them, but he is for some reason. Ah don't know why, just that he has been very frantic in searching for those guys." Cutter answered as Alan seemed to think about the comment for a moment.

"Interesting, just don't even think about peeping on the fire princess or any other girl at the institute, and consider that an order Cutter. The consequences will be less than pleasant if you do something that stupid." Alan replied as Leah started to laugh at Cutter's expression.

Leah smiled before throwing in another comment, "Yeah besides the fire princess has Brandon, why would she want some third rate hand me down. I'm sure that the other girls there wouldn't like you any way. You are in all basic definitions a pervert, how you got in the corp is beyond me."

"Ya wound mae greatly darlin, Ah'm not such a bad guy you know, maybe ya would want to give me a chance, it only takes one date after all." Cutter responded as Alan decided to put them both back on task.

Alan stopped for a moment before getting them back on task, a small thought crossing his mind. It wasn't every day that the small group of friends managed to have a good time teasing each other like this. They had been so busy lately that they all had been too busy to do anything. Alan had a smirk on his face before he finally decided to issue his orders.

"That is the most disgusting thought to ever cross my mind, the only answer I have is NO. I would rather be a nun than date you," Leah barked as Hammer stepped in between the two causing them to drop their argument.

"Okay that's enough you two, its time to get some things done. I'll handle Kincaid, Leah you'll be coming with me. I'll need some help if we are going to pull off what I've got plan. Hammer I want you and Cutter here to go do find out where the enlisted marines stand. Start at NRI, Brandon should have a lot of support there and work your way towards Quantico. We have to make preparations in case of the worse possibility happening." Alan barked as the three nodded and then proceeded to salute the man.

"Fine by mae, come on big guy lets go to bar hopping. Maybe we can uh get ya a date big man; ya look like ya haven't exactly had a good woman in a while." Cutter said as he and Hammer slowly left the room, leaving the other two alone.

"You two better not get into any trouble, we don't need to attract any attention. This time, try not to get into any fights." Leah barked as Hammer acknowledged her before dragging Cutter off before he could respond.

The two disappeared down the hall as Alan looked at Leah carefully. Nodding the two walked off heading in the opposite direction, the two stopped in a small room that contained the uniforms of every military branch in the service. She went to another room to change; the two knew exactly what each other was thinking and what tactics would prove affective against Kincaid. They both emerged in US Army officer uniforms before leaving the room and heading towards a small jeep in the garage.

"Do you think that I'll be able to…oh never mind. It was just foolish thoughts that I had up in my mind." Leah said as she seemed to change her mind in mid sentence.

"Okay well I got everything we need, after we have a short chat with Kincaid, we will both be making an appearance at the Xavier Institute. You don't have to come though Leah, I'm not a heartless leader, I wont ask you to accompany me that far. Especially since I know you still have a thing for my little brother." Alan replied as he started the ignition and pulled out of the garage, using his GPS to find the best directions for Point Five.

Leah looked at him cautiously before speaking, "It's been a while since you called him that, and I didn't realize you still called Brandon little brother. I suppose the two of you are like brothers though, it makes sense. You don't have to worry about it, I'll be fine. I wouldn't mind seeing him again any way."

"Fine whatever you say, lets go properly introduce ourselves to Kincaid. I personally want to make sure that Kincaid has the flight from hell before I send him there. By the time I'm done with him we'll know everything that we need to and he'll be begging for death." Alan barked as he put the jeep in high gear, the two speeding off to the secret military base Point Five.

Next chapter: Expectations Part 5

The final event begins and the time at Nova Roma is slowly coming to a close.


	24. Expectations part 5

**AN: I'm very pleased with the reviews I have been getting lately. I must apologize for updating late again, I had to redo three assignments and I got a game called Kingdom Hearts 2 that is more addicting than anything I've played in a long time. I'll try to get a better schedule down soon; I'm sorry for the delay and enjoy the chapter. Don't forget to review now; I'm counting on all of you to review the fic after all. **

Dani walked down the path looking around the palace as she went. She stopped for a moment following the thoughts of her friend until she arrived at a very beautiful garden in the palace. It was full of exotic flowers and a small pond in the corner, as she turned around she noticed Rahne sitting there looking at her reflection in the pool.

"Rahne, are you okay? You weren't your usual self back there. Normally you would be the first one looking to defend your friends. That is a part of what you are after all, a very admirable trait in my opinion." Dani spoke as her friend looked over at her before returning her reflection to the pool.

"Yeah I know it's just that I don't know what to do, and well…" Rahne replied before stopping herself from talking any further.

"Hmm I'm sorry but I think I know what is going on. I don't have telepathic abilities like Jean, but it doesn't take much to figure out what is going on with you if you pay close attention to your behavior.." Dani started as her friend looked at her, "I know that you are jealous of the relationship that the others are having, especially the five main couples that seem to have developed."

Rahne nodded her head, not caring to deny that fact, before speaking, "Yeah that's the truth, I look around the institute and I noticed that a lot of couples are here. Not to mention that the only chance most of us will have at dating is with another mutant."

"Yeah I know it seems the pickings are slim but there is someone for everyone or at least that is what I'm told after all. I just went with Ray to dance for something to do, and since he didn't have a date it made sense. I'm guessing it was the same with Roberto, I kind of feel bad for Jubilee that Bobby didn't want to go." Dani replied as she looked down at her own reflection in the pool.

Rahne started to smile as her friend tried to cheer her up, "Well what about Alan, I thought ye might have been interested in him. Considering he has tried to save ye once at that sentinel factory and on the second time he managed to save you while fighting off a guy named Deadpool and managed to drive ye part of the way to the institute. I really thought that the two of ye might actually like each other."

"That man is more frustrating than anything else; I don't like him at all. I dont think he and I would be a very good match whatsoever, granted he is kind of cute. He doesn't listen to anyone except Brandon and he is way too old for me even though I am twenty now. He also takes way to many risks and he calls me kid, I don't think that anyone can deal with him at least as a girl friend." Dani answered laughing a little as she thought about what was said.

"Yeah I guess so, but he doesn't look twenty five with those freckles. Ye would think he was a kid the way he acts; he is so impulsive and unquestionably loyal. His smell does bother mae a little though; his scent is a combination of things including explosives and gunpowder. I wonder if there is someone for him to, since ye say that he is so impossible to deal with in a relationship. I wouldn't mind finding someone like Jean, Kitty, Tabby or Mara. So what are we going to do tomorrow?" Rahne asked curious as to what her friend had planned for the next day.

"Hmm well why don't we wait and see, you never know what is going to happen. I got to wonder if everything will work out okay here. I'm certain that there is someone for everyone even that lunatic Alan; it makes you wonder what he is up to though. He just comes and goes like the wind; he even left before Dr. McCoy cleared him medically." Dani replied as the two stood up and started to walk back to their rooms.

"Yeah I wonder if everything is okay back at the institute, ye never know the way things have been going lately. Ye know that Alan attracts trouble like no one else or at least that is what Brandon says about him. There is one last thing though, if ye picked up on my thoughts did ye find out about them." Rahne said a little curious as to how far this link that the two shared went.

"Well I already suspected that something had happened between those two, don't worry about it though. I won't tell any one though, Brandon and Amara like to keep things private and well this would really cause them a lot of trouble. I wonder if anyone else knows what the two of them have been up to on some nights. It wouldn't surprise me if Logan, X-23, Dr, McCoy, Jean and the Professor know as well. " Dani replied as the two continued to walk down the hall walking past a few decorative weapons.

Rahne laughed a little before responding, "I'm sure that a few people besides them also have suspicions at least. I do feel a lot better now; I guess this talking thing helped. I'm going to take it easy and go lay out in the sun right now."

"That's good, I'm always here to listen to you. I'm going to get some rest now though; I'll talk to you later." Dani responded as the two entered their own rooms for different reasons.

In a familiar garden Brandon and Amara sat there watching the clouds pass by. It was an interesting sight as he wrapped his arms around her, the two of them both smiling. She looked up noticing a particularly fluffy cloud in the sky that looked like a big ball. Both smiled as they thought about the events that had recently just happened.

"I'm sorry I didn't win the last event Mara, I did my best though. I just couldn't leave someone behind, particularly if he could have been seriously hurt. I'll win the last one though, that much I can promise you." Brandon said as she gave him a peck on his cheek in response.

"I know that you will do your best," Amara replied as she felt his forehead again, "just make sure that you win the last event. I know you can do it, you still feel a little hot though."

"I'm fine it's nothing to worry about, so how have things been going between you and your parents? I want to make sure that you and your family is getting along just fine and I'm not causing too much of a mess. After what happened with my grandfather, it would really suck if things turned sour now." Brandon commented as she playfully tackled him to the ground.

"I knew you were going to say that or at least, that first part about you being fine. I'm having a great time with my family, I can't remember the last time when I actually had fu being around my mom and dad. It's so great to be home again, as much as I like the institute this is my home after all." Amara replied as she slid off of him so he could sit up and face her.

"Really, I'm glad that you are having a good time. So what have you and your parents been doing that is so much fun? I'm kind of curious; the challenge has taken up most of my time. I don't really know what it's like having parents or a real home so I'm kind of curious." Brandon spoke as he looked at her curious about what was happening.

"Well I went shopping with my mom; it was a lot of fun. I got the cutest necklace and something special for you to see later on," Amara started as he listened to her carefully, "then me and my father spent the time talking about my life. It was nice, that's the only way I can describe it."

"That's great Amara; it's a good thing that your parents are much more understanding it seems than my grandfather. You have some really good parents, so what should we do now that we are alone." Brandon spoke as the two continued to sit face to face from each other.

"If you don't mind I would like to stay here and just talk to you. I kind of miss the freedom that we had at the institute when we could just see each other whenever we wanted. With all of the guards watching and my parents we don't exactly have that much freedom at least right now any way." Amara stated with a small smirk on her face as the two laughed a little.

"Sure that's fine; you know that you are one of the most important people to me. Whatever you want to do if fine with me, I just want to be with you. We really haven't been able to spend all the time that we normally do with each other." Brandon answered smoothly as he looked around the garden, his sight setting on a red tropical flower.

Brandon stood up quickly walking up to the red flower, looking down at it carefully. Using his right hand he carefully picked the flower, making sure it had no thorns before he went ahead with his plans. Shaking the flower a little, he walked back over to Amara placing the flower delicately in her hair.

"That flower suits you; it's perfect for you and just for you. Its moments like this that, well make things worth while, besides I can't think of a better place for the two of us to spend some time alone." Brandon said as he carefully caressed her face with his left hand.

"I couldn't agree with you more about the time alone, and thank you for the flower. You always seem to know what to do, how do you always seem to know what to do and when?" Amara questioned as she watched him sit back down in front of her.

"Honestly, its not as easy as it looks," Brandon explained as he brushed some of her hair back, "I don't always know what to do, but I just try to do what I think is best considering the situation. I'm sure sooner or later I won't have a clue what to do and you'll have to help me figure it out. It's the same out on the battlefield, sometimes it isn't what you know but instinct that saves you. I better get some rest though; tomorrow will be here before you know it."

Morning came quickly for all of the visitors at the palace; Brandon had taken to spending the remainder of his night planning and catching a little sleep. Everyone looked around as a guard appeared to lead them to the location of the final event; they walked down a small hallway which seemed to lead on forever. At the end of the tunnel however was what they had all been waiting for the location of the final event.

"One last event huh Brandon, I'm sure you'll win this one. We'll all be routing for you in the spectator section." Sam said as he watched the young man walk off solemnly without saying a word.

"What's up with him, it's only a small battle? I mean five or ten minutes tops and then we all get to party." Tabby commented as the guard lead the young man to the armory for the contest.

"Brandon isn't in a very good mood right now," Amara said as she came around the corner to get them, "he really doesn't like Leopold after what he did. I think it's fair to say that Leopold will be getting a lot more than he thought today."

"I hope so, but I also hope that he manages to restrain himself. I don't want to see any one seriously hurt today, even if they do deserve." Ms. Munroe replied as she thought about the possibilities for the event.

"Well I don't think that this competition is to the death, it would make sense that they would try to disable the opponent. That is the way this little arena battle is going to be done right Amara?" Dani asked curious about the event itself now that it was time.

"Yes that's right, the contest can only be won if the opponent surrenders or is disabled. The nobles really frown on killing each other but I'm not for sure how things will go today. Brandon probably won't aim to kill, but for now we better get to our seats." Amara answered as every started to follow her.

"Hey Jubilee how is that friend of yours Dominic?" Paige asked as she walked alongside of her, Noriko not far behind them.

"He's going to be fine; Ms. Munroe and Brandon used their combined knowledge to help fix him up. He won't be walking any time soon but he should heal just fine. He really wanted to attend to see Brandon win, but that wasn't possible for him." Jubilee answered, she had gone to see the young man before the event started.

"That's too bad I'm glad he is okay though, I was uh worried about him after what happened. We have a heck of a party planned once this event is over; we have a lot of food prepared and everything. It should be a lot of fun." Noriko added as she ran up to them joining the others as they all approached the end of the tunnel.

They were all amazed by what they saw; it was almost an exact replica of the Coliseum in Rome. They watched as spectators started to fill in, they were being led to the special guest boxed that had been prepared for them. They watched as Marcus, Aria, and finally Amara took a seat on three thrones overlooking the arena from the highest point. They watched as Leopold appeared from the other exit decked out in armor and a battle axe.

"Man I hope Brandon gets a nice weapon because this isn't going to be good if that guy can really use that." Ray barked as they all waited for Brandon to appear.

"Yeah I wonder what is taking him so long; it isn't like him to take his time when it comes to fighting. Normally he is very gung ho about it." Tabby replied as they all noticed another figure finally entering the arena.

Brandon walked down the tunnel carefully; he had chosen his weapon of choice earlier. A saber, it was the only weapon that they had available that he actually knew how to wield some. A shield and a knife had also been given to him, but he declined the heavy armor that they were willing to give him. He emerged from the tunnel wearing a small piece of chain armor, very inadequate for defending against an axe, but it allowed much more agility than the heavy armor that Leopold wore..

"Finally my people we will see which one of these two is worthy of my daughter. Remember contestants that the weapons you wield can kill your opponent, but we would prefer not to see any lethal blows. Conduct yourselves with honor and may the best man win. Let the contest begin," Marcus bellowed as Brandon and Leopold just stood there watching each other.

"What is going on down there, both of are just standing there. They aren't even moving, what is going on down there, this is so boring." Tabby said as Sam smiled at her reaction.

"Think about it Tabby," Sam said as he looked at the two," Brandon taught us hand to hand, what did he stress there? Know your opponent; he is sizing him up before he starts fighting. I heard him say fighting smart hurts a lot less than fighting like an idiot."

"Look I think Leopold is about to make his move, this should be good I wonder what Brandon will do." Rahne said as Leopold charged forward getting ready to swing the axe he was wielding.

'So he has some heavy armor and a battle axe, which most likely means he won't be trying anything with speed. He's going to rely solely on power, but if I can strike quick enough he won't be able to touch me. There definitely isn't any formal training for the nobles here; I don't feel what I normally feel when going up against a trained opponent. Sill I should keep my guard up,' Brandon thought when he noticed that Leopold was running right for him.

"Shit I better get my head in the game," Brandon muttered to himself as he drew out the saber, waiting for Leopold to come to him.

Brandon rolled to the right dodging the axe before it collided with a thud into the ground of the coliseum. Taking advantage of what he felt was an opening Brandon rushed forward stabbing at his opponent with the saber and then slicing at him attempting to get him to release his grip on the axe. His slice cut across the arm of Leopold, but it was mostly blocked by the armor as the man picked up the axe for another strike.

"Commoner if you hold still I will make this quick and as painless as death can be. You deserve to die, and I deserve to have a princess for my slave for the rest of my life." Leopold taunted as he slung the axe once more causing his opponent to dodge out of the way, Brandon moving back a good distance to come up with a new strategy.

"Talk is cheap, you haven't hit me once and while my first blow didn't cause much damage that doesn't mean it wasn't effective. You may be a noble, but you are way out of your league in this event. You know things, but you don't know combat like I do." Brandon coolly responded as he motioned for Leopold to bring it on, a small smirk on his face as he waited for his reaction.

"How dare you," Leopold yelled as he charged forward running straight across the rather plain environment.

'Well I hope this little plan that I just came up with works, if not I'm going to be in a lot of pain. Too bad I promise no abilities or I would just blast the little bastard until he went back to whatever rock he crawled out from. Oh well the time for thinking is over, now is the time for action.' Brandon thought as he finally made his own move, running forward to meet the man halfway.

Brandon struck quickly using his speed to dodge the axe before it could touch him. He smiled as he targeted various parts of the armor, causing pieces of it to fall apart as the sword slashed across the man a few times before he managed to lift the axe once more. Pulling back once more, Brandon made sure he was out of the axe's range as he watched the man look over some of his damaged armor.

"You little piss ant commoner, come forward and fight like a man. It will only take one little strike and then I'll be using the princess as I see fit." Leopold bellowed angry that the man seemed to be running circles around him.

"Well I don't suppose I could convince you to fight like a marine you little wuss, so shut your damn mouth. I'm getting tired of hearing your comments about Amara, you better shut the hell of up before I really get irritated and decide to use some real tactics instead of just hit and run." Brandon spoke his voice booming across the arena, his anger was becoming more apparent by the minute.

"What the hell are you talking about you common piece of…" Leopold started only to get hit in the face with a rock that had been thrown by Brandon.

"I'm tired of messing around with you, play time is over. I'm going to teach you a little lesson today, about how real battles are fought. So are you going to bore me to death with words or do I need to come for you?" Brandon interrupted his smile gone and replaced with a very cold and uncaring look.

Leopold roared with anger as he ran forward swinging the axe wildly at his opponent. No one was surprised to see his opponent dodge the strikes swiftly; he was now swinging the axe from side to side and not straight down. Leopold smiled as he thought he finally had the man cornered, bringing the axe straight down only to have the axe blocked with the shield. Sparks flew as the axe and shield collided, the two engaged in a pushing match to determine whether the shield or the axe would be the winner.

Brandon pushed the shield up as he finally managed to open his opponent up after dealing with his weapon. The axe collided with the ground as Leopold attempted to pull the weapon back up as a quick saber slash happened. Brandon's new plan realized that without his hand Leopold couldn't lift the axe, but it also worked differently if he did manage to dodge the attack. Leopold yanked his hand back as the saber slashed downward, but he was surprised to find the target wasn't really his hand. It was the axe's handle, he watched in fear as the handle fell to the ground, he was without his main weapon.

"This fight isn't over commoner; I still have my back up weapon." Leopold barked as he pulled out a short sword from its sheath.

"You no longer have the axe and that sword won't be very effective," Brandon replied coldly as his eyes seemed to analyze the situation, "I offer you the chance to surrender before I have to humiliate you or in the very least before you get seriously hurt."

"Maybe but your shield is worthless as well, it took a lot of damage from my axe. I think you are the one that should…" Leopold barked as he was interrupted by the shield being thrown hard in his direction, forcing him to dive quickly to the right.

"If you won't surrender then I have no choice but to force you." Brandon yelled as he charged forward, slashing at his opponent forcing Leopold to roll out of the way of the strikes.

'I won't lose this battle, even if it means I have to use a few techniques that marines should avoid using on untrained personnel. Amara wants me to win, and I will win.' Brandon thought as Leopold blocked his saber with his sword, a sharp metallic sound echoing through the arena.

Leopold smiled thinking that he was safe from attack by blocking the saber, but that was quickly proven wrong. He used both of his hands to block the saber attack but Brandon had only used his right hand. In a quick succession of blows, Leopold fell back as he received a punch straight into his face followed by another punch and finally a shoulder block. He fell to the ground in shock as the man followed him walking slowly towards him.

"I'll teach you to treat a noble like this, I will win. You should have never accepted this challenge," Leopold barked as he charged forward thinking that he would end it quickly.

"You deserve a worse fate, but I won't kill you. You aren't my real enemy, but I really don't like you." Brandon muttered to himself as he regained some of his composure, while he watched the charge seemingly uninterested.

"I'll kill you!" Leopold screamed as he stabbed at Brandon with his short sword, surprised at what happened next.

"You lose," Brandon said softly as he lashed out with the saber sending the short sword flying into the ground and leveling the blade at Leopold's throat.

"Please don't kill me I didn't mean what I said; it was just to get inside of your head. That's all it was…" Leopold stuttered as the saber was held close to his throat.

"I don't feel the need to kill you, you aren't my enemy. Your highness, King Marcus, have I won this event to your satisfaction?" Brandon asked as he kept the saber pointed at Leopold seemingly enough not moving from his position.

Marcus stood there with a slight smile on his face; his daughter had been right about the young man. He conducted himself very well, and even now he was offering someone he clearly didn't like mercy. Marcus stood up to address the crowd, he had been satisfied by what had happened, and so had a lot of other people. Amara could barely contain her excitement as she waited eagerly for the announcement.

"I declare Brandon Ayers the winner of this event and of the challenge overall. Congratulations young man, you have won the challenge and the respect of all involved. Come forward and I will present you with the reward for completing this challenge." Marcus bellowed as the crowd of spectators cheered in excitement.

"Thank you your highness," Brandon spoke loudly as he walked quickly towards the king, sheathing the saber as he went along the way.

"You did very well Brandon; I can see why my angel had so much faith in you now. I must say that I have never seen someone fight quite like you; you must tell us where you learned such a style later on. In the meantime however, congratulations on your victory,

" Aria spoke as soon as the young man managed to come into range.

"Brandon Ayers please kneel before me and hand me the saber you just used." Marcus spoke as he used his own sword to handle the next procedure, quickly touching both shoulders and his head with the dull side of the blade, "You are hereby a noble of the Nova Roman court, fully recognized by not only the royal court but also the senate."

"Thank you; I appreciate your support sir. I will do my best in this new position for as long as I am here." Brandon said politely as he was handed the saber back.

"Yes well we have a lot to talk about in private just the four of us, but for now enjoy your victory. Amara bring him to us when it is time for us all to talk." Aria spoke as Amara ran past her, and the others made their way to him.

"Brandon you did great, I'm so proud of you. I knew you would win, I just knew it." Amara said happily almost with tears in her eyes as she nearly tackled him to the ground when she hugged him.

"Yeah thanks I think, but oh never mind. I'm glad I won, but I still don't understand why I had to go through so much hassle just for nobility. " Brandon commented as he shifted her weight a little so she was driving her elbow into his chest.

"I'll explain that later," Amara said as the others finally managed to meet up with them, "for now let's enjoy the victory celebration. I'm sure it will be just great, Paige and Noriko have worked really hard on getting everything ready."

"Is that so, well then…" Brandon said as he was interrupted by the recently arrived Tabby.

"Let's party." Tabby yelled as Brandon just laughed and nodded in head in agreement.

"Okay this way then, we got everything ready for the most part." Noriko spoke as she motioned for everyone to follow her.

Noriko led them slowly back to the palace, everyone laughing and smiling as they walked down the hall. They were all amazed as she opened the dining room revealing an even bigger feast than the one that they had on their first night. Food was every where as well as a few balloons that had some how or another found their way onto the Blackbird. They all stood there for a moment until Ray and Roberto couldn't take it any longer and started to eat.

"You would think that those two would at least have some manners," Dani commented as a piece of meat fell on the floor.

"I wouldn't hold your breath, and I'm not waiting until they eat all the good food. Time for some food, I'm hungry any way." X-23 growled as she used her claws to pick up some meat literally daring the two boys to challenge her for it.

"Well what are we waiting for then, let's go. It's a party after all; all we are lacking is some music and some dancing. I can solve that later though." Tabby cheered as everyone else except for Amara, Brandon, and Ms. Munroe started to eat.

"Congratulations on your victory Brandon, I'm very proud of how you acted today. You could have done a lot more damage but you held yourself back very well. Now I better get some food as well before Ray and Roberto decide to have an eating contest." Ms. Munroe whispered softly a small joke causing him to chuckle in response.

"Thank you Ms. Munroe," Brandon said as he watched everyone eating and having a good time talking with each other, "I appreciate your support. I'll be along here soon; there is something that I want to know before I eat."

"I know, and I promise that you will be told everything very soon. Come on let's eat and celebrate then I'll tell you before we go meet with my parents. Believe me you are going to need your strength, its going to be a very long talk with them." Amara commented as she prepared to use the pout on him, only to have him relent before she had to use it.

"Okay I trust you, besides I kind of want to get some meat before a brawl breaks out." Brandon replying joking about how a few select individuals were acting around all of the food.

The two smiled as they went to join the fun, eating their fill of the food as well. Everyone was eating their fill as two other individuals watched from a distance, Amara's parents enjoying the whole scene. Marcus gave his wife a slight kiss on the cheek as they turned away from the party which seemed to have gotten even rowdier once Tabby managed to find someone to play music for them. As the king and queen walked away a certain conclusion dawned on them.

"You know for the first time I think that decision that we made to send Amara away to that institute was the right one. This is the first time that I can say that with absolute certainty that it was the right move, especially after seeing her with her friends and her new fiancée." Marcus said as the two made their way down the hall, heading to the throne room.

"I agree with you my husband, but we shouldn't say fiancée just yet. Brandon isn't completely aware what winning the event entails, I'm sure it won't be a problem though. Did you learn everything that you wanted to about him from the events?" Aria asked as her husband started to laugh a little in response.

"Yes I learned everything that I needed to know," Marcus started as he two servants opened the door to the throne room so they could enter, "our daughter was right about him. I may not like the fact that she is dating, but since she is I am glad that it is him."

"I know what you mean my husband, she could have brought home a lot worse. I think this is for the best, if you think about it any way. We knew that our isolation is going to end sometime soon, for the next king to have experience with the modern world will be a benefit for kingdom's future. Most importantly though Amara is happy," Aria softly replied as the two took their seats on the throne to wait for Amara and Brandon to meet them.

"I hadn't thought of that, but the most important thing is that Brandon makes her happy. I've never seen her smile like that, and I think that I speak for both of us when I say that I hope she is always that happy. I think we should hold off on the rest of this conversation until our daughter and future son-in-law arrive." Marcus commented as she nodded in response to his comment.

Back at the party, Brandon smiled as the music finally started to stop. He was tired and Amara had realized that so the two had taken the opportunity to rest up while the others that wanted to danced. Tabby was the one doing the most dancing, Sam and the others joining her. The music stopped for a moment when Jubilee noticed two guards helping Dominic towards them. Jubilee smiled running over to the young man as the guards sat him down carefully.

"Dominic what are you doing here, you should be resting. You better not get yourself hurt, we might not be able to help this time." Jubilee cooed almost as the others watched her run over to the young man.

"I know Miss Jubilee, but I just had to come and congratulate the winner. Besides I wanted to talk with you more, it's kind of dull since I can't walk around much any more." Dominic whispered softly as Jubilee sat down next to him so they could talk.

Dominic looked over at Brandon who seemed to be sleeping before speaking, "Congratulations, I'm very glad that you won the event instead of Leopold. That would have been a step backwards for our entire country."

"Thanks, but I don't know why it would be such a large step forward, why do all of the nobles here…" Brandon said sleepily as he stopped speaking as Amara got up forcing him to sit up as well.

"Dominic I'm sorry to interrupt but we should really speak with my parents now Brandon. Its time for you to learn everything that was going on just like I promised before someone else makes a mistake and tells you." Amara stated motioning for him to follow her to the throne room.

"Fine by me," Brandon said as the two entered the throne room, the guards and servants seemingly sealing off the room to keep any one from eavesdropping or interfering.

Brandon cautiously examined the throne room carefully; the decorations had been changed some. A few more ornate objects were now placed in the room as well as a fourth throne that had appeared next to the one Amara occupied usually. Amara watched as he seemed to take in the surroundings, yet he still didn't seem to connect everything together.

"Ah Brandon I must admit that it is nice to see you were victorious in the challenge. Now its time that we explain everything that the challenge entails, in particular what the winner receives." Marcus spoke as the young man seemed to be carefully watching the king.

"Oh Marcus would just tell him already," Aria spoke as she finally couldn't take the excitement any more, "you see Brandon, the winner of the challenge gets the right to the hand of the princess in marriage. The moment you won the two of you became engaged."

Brandon was completely caught off guard, his only words being, "What did you just say?"

"Its okay Brandon, I wanted the challenge to occur to get my parents approval. This was the only way that I could get it and if sometime down the road if you decided to ask me to marry you, this would be the only way acceptable to Nova Roman law." Amara said as Brandon seemed to be frozen there, sweat starting to drip from his face.

"I uh, I uh, uh well this is surprising," Brandon said as he wiped the sweat away with the sleeve of his shirt.

"I know it is but just listen to me for a minute, its not like we are getting married right now. We can wait until we are both ready for that, I've already address that with my father. When we are both ready it can happen but not until then, so you can relax some." Amara stated as he seemed to relax a little after hearing those words.

"Uh okay, I think that I just need to think for a moment." Brandon replied as he stepped away from the three to think about the situation.

'What is going on here? I don't, wait a minute maybe I do. Amara did say that I had to win and she couldn't tell me why, she knew that I would over react if I found out about this. I'll be damned, so this is what she was going to tell me. Why couldn't I see this one coming, but it isn't like the ceremony is happening right now. Okay what matters is I do love her and as confused as I am right now I don't want to be mad at her and do something really stupid right now especially in front of her parents.' Brandon thought as he seemed to pace back and forth as he thought about things.

Amara and her parents watched as he seemed to think about the situation, the three noticing that he seemed to be happy and upset at the same time. Amara watched as he struggled with the thoughts that seemed to be building up in his head, walking slowly over to her and placing her left hand on his shoulder. Marcus and Aria were surprised at how calm the young man seemed to get as their daughter seemed to have a soothing affect on his personality.

"Its okay, I know that you are…" Amara started only to get interrupted by him grabbing her hand, rubbing it gently.

"I think I understand why you did this the way you did Mara." Brandon said as his vision moved over to her parents, "King Marcus, Queen Aria, I'm not ready for marriage just quite yet. I have a lot of responsibilities to deal with before I can marry Amara. When we are ready you'll be two of the first people to know."

"I understand my daughter has already made that perfectly clear to me that the two of you are not ready for that kind of relationship. It is important to me and my wife though that we both met with you and well welcomed you to our family. I must admit that it is kind of nice to have a son now, but if you ever hurt my daughter..." Marcus spoke his thoughts thinking about someone that would eventually be joining his family.

"I understand perfectly sir; I appreciate your understanding in this matter." Brandon spoke as the king nodded his head in understanding, the two shaking hands.

"Ah that reminds me I should tell you more about the kingdom, one day you will be …" Marcus spoke as the young man that would be his son in law seemed to hesitate for the moment.

"Actually I think Amara will be the one ruling this country for the most part. I'll be there to help and support her, but I don't think I would make a very good king. Amara was born here and raised here for the most part; she'll be much better suited to make important decisions about this country than I would ever be." Brandon interrupted as her parents looked at him surprised by what he had just said.

"Ha you are a very interesting young man Brandon." Marcus spoke moving closer to whisper something to him. "The two of us are going to have a lot to talk about before you leave for the institute with my daughter. We are especially going to have to talk about a few things I don't want happening while you two are back at the institute."

"Father what are the two of you whispering about?" Amara asked as the two men backed away all of a sudden.

"Just planning on getting to know my future son in law, and we do have a lot of things to teach you about being a king some day." Marcus exuberantly said as he slapped Brandon's back causing the young man to move forward a little.

'And to think that I thought this wasn't going to be that bad. Oh I so don't want to have this chat, but I guess it's worth it. To think this was supposed to be my vacation, but I guess something like this was bound to happen. Oh well still plenty of time to enjoy my vacation with my friends, my girlfriend, and apparently my new family.' Brandon thought as he looked around the room at Amara's parents.

The next two days seemed to fly by for the vacationing members, well at least for everyone except Brandon. He had been getting a crash course as he called it in Nova Roman history, politics, and in basic a course on how to be a king. The young marine didn't care much for the courses but attempted to pay attention to them when it was a certain princess teaching him about them. His only saving grace had to be the fact that the trip was almost over.

"I'm going to miss my angel so much; you have to come back much sooner this time. That includes you to Brandon, you are going to be family some day and we didn't get much time to get to know you thanks to my husband's little educational course." Aria spoke as she and Marcus escorted them back to the Blackbird.

"Of course we'll be back as soon as we can. I promise that we'll be back soon, and then we'll talk more. Isn't that right Brandon?" Amara commented as she elbowed him slightly in the stomach area.

"Uh yeah, maybe next time no school lessons though," Brandon grumbled as Aria started to laugh in response to his comment.

"What's the matter Brandon, you don't like going to school?" Tabby teased as he grunted in response, ignoring the question for the time being.

"I can understand your distaste Brandon," Marcus started as they were approaching the final stretch to the Blackbird, "however; you must know these things for the future. I'm sure you'll be just fine as soon as you learn all of the things I taught you. Amara, I expect you to teach everything that you can about this country so he can be ready."

"Of course father, I know the best way to get him to learn after all." Amara replied a small grin forming on her face as Brandon was shaking his head in response.

'I had to memorize the Universal Code of Military Justice and that was a lot more interesting than what I learned here. This place has more rules than the corp did; I'm going to go crazy if I have to obey all of these rules. Based on my past track record with military rules I'm going to break at least 40 or 50 my first year alone.' Brandon thought as he continued to move getting closer to the Blackbird.

"That reminds me young man; keep in mind those things that we talked about. If anything happens to my daughter I will hold you personally responsible understand?" Marcus threatened as he gave the protective father glare at Brandon.

"I'll keep it in mind," Brandon said loudly until he moved away from the man, "at least until we get back to the institute."

The group looked up suddenly seeing the Blackbird there; the plane had remained stationary and seemed ready at a moment's notice to leave. Amara watched as her mom and dad looked at the metallic object with tears in their eyes, neither one wanted their daughter to leave again. Sam smiled as he hung his arm around Tabby, the two motioning the others to join them on the Blackbird. As the others moved into the plane it left only Ms. Munroe, Brandon, Amara, and Dani outside of the plane.

"I speak on behalf of all of us when I say thank you for having us here. We all had a good time with a few exceptions; we hope that we'll be able to come back some day." Dani spoke as the two older royals nodded in agreement.

"You are quite welcome young lady, we would be happy to welcome any of you back any time you want to visit. Just try to bring my daughter around more often, she doesn't visit home enough for my tastes." Aria said as she grabbed Dani actually hugging her tightly before releasing her to join the others.

"I'm going to miss you my little girl, I still wish you would stay here with us but I understand you have to go. Brandon take good care of her, I expect both of you to come back very soon. We'll make preparations for your return; things will definitely get interesting once we announce your return. As my wife put it, you are welcome here any time you wish to come to Nova Roma." Marcus spoke as he offered to shake hands with Brandon.

"I'll take good care of her, I promise. I look forward to seeing you again soon, and hopefully it will be in the next year or so. I think I'll board the plane now as well, I don't want to think what they are doing unsupervised." Brandon answered as he shook hands with Marcus and gave Aria a quick hug before boarding the plane.

"I also better get things prepared for take off; it was very nice meeting you." Ms. Munroe stated warmly as she entered the plane herself, leaving Amara alone with her parents.

"I'll miss you both, I love you." Amara said a few tears in her eyes as she hugged her parents, the three embracing in a group embrace as the plane's engines started up.

"We feel the same way, now go on they are waiting for you." Marcus said as his daughter merely nodded entering the plane with a tear running down her face.

The King and Queen moved away as the plane took off, floating upward before flying straight ahead. The two watched as it flew away, the plane quickly disappearing out of sight before they knew what happened. Aria wiped away a few tears as she looked in the general direction that the Blackbird had flown off in, Marcus hugging her in response.

"Don't worry I'm sure they'll be back soon, and we have a lot to do between now and then. Just remember that while we are sad for her being away from us, she is going to be very happy there." Marcus commented as Aria started to smile before playfully slapping his side.

"You big baby," Aria whispered softly, "I told you that when she first left except it was only her that time. Come on lets go, no use being here now that they are gone" Aria spoke as the two walked away slowly from the landing point.

Next Chapter: No Rest for the Weary

While the Blackbird makes it way back to the institute, the Professor and Dr. McCoy make plans for the future. While Scott and Jean enjoy some private time, everything goes to hell the moment Alan and Leah arrive.


	25. No Rest for the Weary

**AN: Well I must apologize for the long delay, I am unfortunately caught up in something called finals week. I also have a huge project due so I have just been going from one school project to the next in an attempt to stay one step ahead. To give you a better idea, my project in total length as of today is 110 pages long, thankfully I only have to redo the last 20 pages or so. In other news I appreciate the increase in reviews and at this time would like to announce that their will be a sequel to Knight's Calling. I'm going to call it Shadows of War, so enjoy this chapter and dont forget to review at the end. **

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Charles Xavier grunted slowly as he lifted Cerebro's helmet off of his head. Ever since most of the students left on break, he had sequestered himself with the device desperately searching for any sign of the Brotherhood that could be found. He slowly wheeled himself away from the device only to stop for a moment as his good friend Hank McCoy joined him.

"Charles I know that you have been pushing yourself much harder to find the Brotherhood but you need to take more breaks. You aren't looking well my old friend, and if you do fall ill our chances of tracking them down decrease significantly. Jean is still struggling with using Cerebro and as for our other information methods Alan is taking a different path that may not allow him to discover them." Hank said as he looked at his friend carefully.

The Professor wheeled himself onto the elevator Hank following him before responding, "I know but I don't think that we can count on Alan for information. He is only one man after all and I don't know how much we can trust him. That means right now I'm the only person that is looking for them in the hopes of saving them."

"I was given some intelligence reports by him and he is attempting to locate Reaper and his master by following the plane that he claims came from an army research and development lab. In my opinion he seems to appear very trustworthy, he has even helped out around here." Hank spoke as the elevator started to go up, returning to the main lobby of the mansion.

"Well Hank, I must admit that while he has been helpful, something isn't quite right with Alan. While I sense no malice or hatred to us, he is very much a mystery. I've tried to find out things about him, but so far I have had very little success. I do know that he spoke the truth when he said Brandon was the only person that he cared about." Charles replied as the two rode the elevator up and into the lobby of the institute.

"Hmm well I can understand your concern my friend, it would help if Alan would talk about himself. Unfortunately though Alan and Brandon both refuse to talk about why they seem to be so loyal to each other. All considering however, I must say that Alan has provided us a lot of help in the short amount of time that we have known him." Hank said as the two moved into the lobby of the mansion heading for the kitchen.

Hank reached out using his fur covered hand to open the door for his friend as they entered the room. Hank entered next searching the fridge for food, avoiding a few meals that had clearly been prepared by Kitty. He picked up the usual ingredients to make a nice ham sandwich, one for each of them. He placed the long bread on its side as he started to get things ready.

"On another note Charles, I am very concerned that you may be placing yourself at risk attempting to find them. You just haven't been yourself lately, and you have even missed two of the X-Men training sessions while sequestered with Cerebro. Besides it is quite a bit of stress that you are placing on yourself by attempting such a long session with Cerebro at near the maximum power level." Hank stated worried about his friend's health and also seeking the best way to find the Brotherhood.

"I appreciate your concern Hank but I'll be fine. I'll be able to rest some once we find out where the Brotherhood is being held, then we can attempt to rescue them from the mans control. I'm thinking that if we find them soon that we should attempt the rescue as soon as we find out where they are being held. That means that if we do happen to locate them before the others return, we will be going in a little short handed. The sooner we retrieve them, the better the chances are that we can help treat them." Charles replied as he wheeled himself over to the table, waiting for his friend to finish the meal for the two of them.

"Hmm, I understand that Charles," Hank started as he walked over there placing the food in front of them, "but it will do you no good to push yourself until you are exhausted. I have to admit what are we going to do with the four of them, if we do manage to rescue them?"

"I have been thinking about that all four of them are going to need more help than even what I might be capable of providing. I was thinking of contacting Dr. Moira MacTaggert, her specialty may be genetics but we are going to need a lot of help to treat the Brotherhood. They are going to need medical help, treatment for drug addictions, and maybe even a psychologist for mental help." Charles said as he looked at the sandwich, his friend preparing something to drink for the two of them.

"I agree with you there, they will need a lot of help that we may not have the time nor the capacity to provide. By the way, what would you like to drink Charles?" Hank asked as he pulled out two cups pouring a cup of ice tea in one.

"Tea will be fine, is there anything interesting in the paper today?" Charles asked as he took a bite out of the sandwich as Hank placed the drink in front of him.

"Hmm well the Daily Bugle has been spouting nonsense about someone called Spider-Man but I'm starting to believe there might actually be some truth in what they are reporting. There may well be a Spider-Man in New York, but this seems more than likely to be a smear campaign." Hank answered as Charles read the paper with the headline Spider-Man Destroys Garden Terrace in Battle with Green Goblin.

Charles flipped the paper over to read the end of the article before speaking, "I have to agree, I also wonder why I haven't detected this Spider-Man with Cerebro. It's a very interesting situation, if we weren't searching for the Brotherhood, I would say a meeting is in order. Perhaps after we rescue them, we can attempt a meeting with him."

"Before we get to far off topic, I want to show you the plans I have for a treatment device to help with holding the Brotherhood. It should work provided I can get a working prototype." Hank said as he reached for a small note pad that he kept on him.

Hank pulled out a small note pad, showing his friends the plan for a device that he hoped could contain them. The device was circular in motion and lay out all over the floor, a few points sticking out from the bottom of the device. By pressing a button the device would emit an energy field capable of incapacitating someone for treatment.

"I have a working prototype but it isn't working as well as I hoped it would. I believe that this energy field should be able to hold anyone that we manage to rescue. I have to admit that it might go better now that Forge is coming to help me. Even with Dr. Patronete's energy cage designs, and Forge's technical knowledge, it will be a challenge to get the machine to work correctly." Hank commented as he closed the note pad and placed it back in his lab coat's pocket.

"I see, when will Forge arrive to help you with this?" Charles asked as he tried to figure things out.

"Forge's very timely arrival should coincide with the return of a majority of our students. At the very least he should be here by the end of the day tomorrow, I'm just hoping that between the two of us we can get it to work." Hank answered as he tried not to think about the many problems the device had when he first tested it.

Charles sat there looking at the device's notes before commenting, "Keep trying, I'm going to try and make alternate arrangements in case this device isn't ready or capable of handling the situation. Well I'm going to head back into Cerebro and turn up the intensity to maximum. Maybe then I'll be able to penetrate whatever shield is hiding the Brotherhood from us."

"Charles please don't press yourself to hard, once you do find them it is going to take everyone that we can get to attempt a rescue. This will not be easy, because where ever they are being hidden is going to be a location that is heavily guarded. We are going to need you at full strength if the Master is such a powerful telepath and telekinetic. You and Jean may very well be the only two capable of defeating a man with powers like that." Hank announced as the man wheeled away from his friend about to return to Cerebro to continue the search.

"I know Hank, I know. Speaking of searching have you seen Logan lately, he has disappeared ever since the trip to Nova Roma began. I know he didn't go with them, so do you have any ideas about where he is?" Charles as Hank shook his head no in response.

"Logan is probably out enjoying the peace by spending his free time in an establishment drinking. He'll be back eventually, after he has finished unwinding. He has been training the X-men a lot harder ever since the attack by the Master and Reaper." Hank answered as the two went back to work on their respective tasks.

"That is very true, but Logan is trying to prepare them for the future battles to come. I still have faith that peace will eventually come, and our goal remains the same. Unfortunately we are going to have to be more proactive with this new threat, I do not like this new approach but I can see that it is an unfortunate necessity." Charles replied frowning a little about the situation.

"Have faith Charles, the situation may look bleak but there is still hope. You are the one that normally has to remind me of that fact." Hank commented as the Professor started to smile a little in response.

"Yes I know that I'm normally the one that keeps up our spirits," Charles started as he rubbed his head gently, "but this situation is just so frustrating for me. I have to admit that I am worried about the entire situation."

"I understand Charles, but I'm certain that we will find them and rescue them. We can't afford not to after the test that I have run." Hank adamantly spoke as the two continued the conversation in between bites of food and sips of tea.

The Professor seemed to stop for a moment as he looked down at his half eaten sandwich. He pushed the plate away some resting his head on his hands as he seemed to enter deep thought. Hank looked at his friend curiously before realizing that Charles seemed to be in mental conversation with someone important.

"Ah my apologies Hank, that was Ororo and she was informing me that they will be arriving shortly. I must say that the institute has been very quiet lately; it's been kind of nice. It's going to be just as nice to have all of our students back here however." Charles added as he started to smile, one of his greatest joys had always been his students, so it made sense that he was happiest when all of them were around.

"Well now that is some good news," Hank started as he looked at his friend carefully, "I must admit that the place has been very serene lately, but that will end with their return. I'm certain that the lull in the pranks around here will be coming to an end when they all return."

"Well now that is something that I was hoping wouldn't happen, but you are most likely right. I do have to admit that I would have liked to attend that trip, Nova Roma is such a wonderful country to visit after all." Charles spoke as he smiled remembering his first trip to the country.

"I would have liked going with them, but researching the problem with the Brotherhood took priority. I have to admit I wish that I could have gone; it would have been an absolutely fantastic place to study. The history, culture, and technology, it all would have been so interesting. Oh well maybe next time," Hank replied as he decided to finish off the last of his sandwich.

"You'll have a chance to learn all about Nova Roma some day my friend. I assure you of that, you could always ask the students what they learned on their trip there." Charles announced as he picked up his plate and cup, rolling over to the sink to put them away.

"Ah an excellent idea my friend, it was nice having a break with you Charles. I'm glad I could get you away for a little while from your tedious work schedule." Hank teased his friend slightly as his friend nodded in agreement.

"Thanks for the food, break, and conversation my friend, I'll see you for our normal after noon tea later." Charles spoke as he wheeled away leaving the man alone in the kitchen.

The Professor slowly wheeled away as Hank put away his own dishes, he moved with amazing agility as he put the dishes in the dishwasher before heading back to his lab. He nodded politely as Scott and Jean passed him in the hallway, the two smiling about something that they had been talking about earlier. The two looked around the game room, the two taking a seat in the vacant room.

"Scott, are you okay?" Jean asked as she watched him rub his head slightly.

"Uh yeah I'm fine; I've just had a hard time getting Bobby to get with the program. You've seen how he is in the training in the Danger Room, it has been a struggle to get him to follow orders." Scott answered as Jean took to rubbing his back attempting to get him to unwind a little.

"I know it has been hard," Jean cooed as she looked around to make sure no one else was there, "Bobby has had a problem with his attitude or rather cockiness ever since his promotion to the X-men. The Professor thought it would level off before too long, but I don't know if it will now."

"I'm worried about it, I'm about to recommend to the Professor that Bobby be sent back down to the New Mutants until he matures more. I know it's the Professor's decision but if he won't listen then how can we count on him. Granted I think he might give Brandon a heart attack, Brandon's thoughts on Bobby are pretty obvious." Scott replied as he thought about the situation carefully.

"Yeah those two are like exact opposites, I'm certain they would end up at each others throats before the end of the first day. You shouldn't worry so much about it though; I have to admit lately that we should be relaxing more while we can." Jean commented as she watched him adjust his ruby glasses a little.

"I know, you keep trying to get me to relax but all I can think about is things that I need to do. We have so much training we need to get done before we face off with this Master and his forces again. Reaper was so powerful, I didn't understand how strong he was until I witnessed what he could do first hand." Scott said as he looked at the red haired girl that he loved so deeply.

"Its hard to focus on other things when there is so much to do, but do you get the feeling the Professor is hiding something from us?" Jean asked concerned about the behavior she had been witnessing out of the man recently.

"Now that you mention it, lately things have been…" Scott trailed off as he started to think about all of the things he had seen recently.

'The Professor has been unusually quiet and he looks a little sick lately. Not to mention that the mansions power system have flashed on and off a little, normally the sign of Cerebro being used at the highest intensity. The Professor also normally attended a few of the X-men's training session to provide them guidance but lately he had been a no show in almost all of them. In fact he seemed to have started acting unusually shortly after the people leaving for Nova Roma left.' Scott thought as his mind tried to connect the things together.

"The only thing that I can think of is the fact that the Professor is pushing hard to find someone based upon what I know." Scott started after getting his thoughts straight, "I know he has been acting weird but I know he has a reason for doing it. He'll tell us when and only when he is ready."

"I suppose you are right, but I was hoping that the amount of secrets would decrease around here. The Professor seems to have something important going on that Dr. McCoy is aware of us as well. The two of them are hiding something, but the Professor is keeping me from finding out." Jean replied as the two looked at each other somberly.

Both of them had experience problems like this from the Professor before, when the Professor had hidden vital information from them. That Mystique was their principal for some time, or the fact that Magneto had existed. Both had been hidden by the Professor, but he had promised not to hide things from them again. The two were slightly confused by the thought he might have forgotten his promise, both were worried about the situation that could develop if he was once more.

"In the past the Professor has hidden things to keep us safe," Jean said as she looked at him carefully, "but I have faith that he will tell us very soon. I think that he might be hiding some things until he has more information to go on."

"You could be right; I have to wonder when we started to get so suspicious of every moment that is made here. I have to wonder if some problems aren't because we have gotten a bit more paranoid after the attack by Reaper and his master." Scott added as he looked around the room for something that the two of them could do.

Jean rested her head on his shoulder before speaking once more, "Yeah that is definitely a possibility, not to mention that we have a lot more people to worry about here."

"Hmm that's something we haven't considered in a while, the Professor had hoped the remodeled mansion would be enough to hold all of these new arrivals. You have to admit that additions are going to be needed soon if we keep on adding people. Not that I'm complaining we have a lot of good people here." Scott stated as he thought about the logistical problems that were starting to appear.

"I guess that an addition would have to happen some time down the road. If we keep on adding people though I wonder who the Professor will place in the X-men down the road." Jean replied as she picked up on what Scott wanted to talk about next.

"You always know what I want to talk about Jean; I wanted to talk about who we should consider for promotion to the X-men next. Having your opinion always helps balance off things, especially since you are going to have to work with them." Scott commented as the two of them thought about the growing number of people listed in the other group.

The two sat there quietly for a moment seemingly thinking about who the Professor would add next. Both thought that Brandon would have already joined the X-men, but he seemed adamant about not joining for the time being. The other students that came to their mind had been Dani, Amara, and Sam. Dani was naturally a bit stronger in her power due to the fact she was a couple of years older, but Amara and Sam had came a long way due in part to the effort they gave in their training.

"Dani is probably going to be the next addition, since Brandon seems so well adamant about not joining the X-men. All he says when I ask him about it is he'll think about it, I really don't understand why he doesn't want to be a member." Scott commented as Jean caressed his face, Scott had been hoping for a while the former marine would finally give in and join the X-men.

"I picked up on a few of his stronger thoughts," Jean started as she carefully phrased her next sentence, "you have to remember that while almost everyone else here sees the X-men as an elite team and where most of the New Mutants want to be, that isn't necessarily true with Brandon. He sees things very differently from the way we see things."

"Yeah I know that, it just doesn't make sense to me. He has everything that would make a good member, but something is still holding him back. I wish I knew what it was so I could at least make a better effort at trying to get him to join." Scott said as he thought about the future team he would like to put on the field.

"Scott aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself, Brandon seems content where he is now. There is one last thing, but we'll worry about that later." Jean added, she had to admit she was worried that Brandon wouldn't want to follow Scott's orders.

"Well him aside, I think a middle ground team is necessary now, Dani, Amara, and Sam would be good members but they aren't quite ready yet. Dani is naturally a bit stronger than the others, but Amara and Sam have been training very hard. That training shows, and they clearly have out grown the New Mutants team that they have been assigned too, but they aren't ready for the X-men." Scott added as he thought about the other three that were progressing well.

"You know I think we have been talking too much about this kind of stressful stuff. We've only been talking about stuff that makes both of us stress out. How about we go for a walk and just enjoy the scenery, we both need the time to relax before we go crazy." Jean commented the two looking at each other carefully before making a decision.

"I'm glad that we are both on the same page," Scott answered smiling as he stood up offering his hand to help her up.

"Thank you, we should go before the others decide to show and ruin our moment." Jean replied as the two started to walk away slowly but surely making their way to the back door.

The two slid out of the kitchen carefully, both of them smiling as they made their way outside seemingly enough free from any one eavesdropping, spying, or otherwise interrupting them. The two walked down a well traveled path, it had really been trampled down since it had turned into the running path that most of them used to stay in shape. It was a nice walk for the two as they held hands, enjoying the peaceful moment the two had alone.

"I have to admit this is the first time in a while that we have had some time alone." Scott said a little disappointed in the fact that they had been so busy that they had very little time alone together.

"That is certainly true," Jean started as she smiled Scott hugging her gently before she continued, "I have to admit that it is nice to see that Ms. Munroe has managed to grow all of these plants back."

"Yes it is very nice to see that everything has grown back, when it starts to warm back up we can go swimming again. It's so cool here this time of the year," Scott commented receiving a playful slap from his girlfriend.

"You are only saying that because you like seeing me in a swimsuit." Jean teased as Scott merely smiled, the two continuing their walk along the trail.

Meanwhile back in the institute Kitty rubbed her head, her advanced college classes were starting to catch up to her. She had to work hard to keep up with all of the work, and the fact was the work was starting to pile up on her. She watched as Piotr entered the room, she couldn't help but smile as he carried a tray of food into the room for her. He placed the tray on the desk after removing some of her school work.

"Katya, you must get something to eat. You have been working so hard lately, and you definitely need to take better care of yourself." Piotr commented as he watched her grin at the food that was placed in front of her.

"You are like so sweet, I really appreciate the fact that you brought me some food. I've been so busy with homework that I haven't had much time to eat. I swear that all of these professors like make everything due on the same day on purpose." Kitty replied as the two sat down in chairs next to her desk.

"Da, I will have to take your word for it about me being sweet Katya, but you are a fine student. I'm certain that you will handle all of the problems that your teachers have given you with ease. After all, you are very smart." Piotr stated as she finally started to eat the salad that he had brought on the tray.

"Like it is so sweet that you not only brought me food, but you remembered to bring me vegetarian food. I was worried that like I've been so busy with class that you have forgotten about me." Kitty spoke softly as she watched the rather large Russian move his chair closer to her.

"Never Katya, I could never forget about you. I've been enjoying all of the free time any way; I finally managed to complete more of my paintings. Da, it is so nice being able to paint without worries right now." Piotr replied as the two looked over both hearing someone knock on the door.

Kitty stood up quickly making her way to the door, opening it for Amanda. Amanda smiled as she entered the room; she hadn't meant to disturb the two but had done so any way. She looked at the two with a faint smile, she had come to talk with Kurt, but so far her fuzzy boyfriend remained inconspicuously missing. She took a seat in Piotr's chair, the giant Russian offering her the chair as soon as she had entered the room.

"Amanda, like it's so good to see you again," Kitty started as she looked her over, it was clear she had been in the tanning bed lately, "look at you, so what's going on?"

"Sorry if I'm disturbing you but I was looking for my fuzzy elf, you haven't seen him by chance have you?" Amanda asked as she watched the two look at them look at each other.

"Nyet, I am afraid that I haven't seen Kurt since our morning training. He was in a very good mood however," Piotr answered as he watched Amanda's expression change a little in response.

Amanda's face showed some disappointment before responding, "Oh really, well that's okay. I'll just look around the rest of the mansion."

"Now that I think about it, I haven't seen Kurt since then either. He must be up to something to be so quiet; normally he is teleporting here or there." Kitty stated objectively as she knew how Kurt acted based on experience.

"Maybe your right," Amanda responded, stopping to brush back her hair before continuing, "where is everyone by the way? This place seems really empty today for some reason; they still aren't on vacation at Nova Roma are they?"

"Da, our comrades should be returning from their vacation soon. I have to admit that the institute isn't as interesting without them around." Piotr said his face smiling at the thought of all of his friends returning.

"It has been a rough time, for you I guess. Kurt told me that you and Brandon are good friends now. Speaking of this Brandon guy, I still haven't met him. All I hear about him from Kurt is that he is really tough and besides that my fuzzy elf hasn't told me much. I got to meet Noriko, Paige, Dani, and even X-23 but not him, so I'm curious about who he is." Amanda said curious about the fact that while she had known them all longer the relative newcomer was still a mystery.

"Well I'm sure you will get to meet our comrade soon, maybe you can meet him when he gets back today." Piotr replied as Kitty smiled in response as a puff of sulfur permeated the room.

Kurt teleported right into the room, the usual smoke entering the room as the others looked at him curiously. Amanda immediately stood up hugging her fuzzy elf and quickly planting a nice big kiss on his cheek to his surprise. Kurt wasn't surprised though as he kissed her back the two enjoying a nice moment before a cough interrupted them.

"Leibchen, I've been looking all over for you," Kurt said smoothly seemingly covering something up that everyone in the room could tell.

"Kurt, you are a very good boyfriend," Amanda started as she looked at him carefully, "but you are a very poor liar, what are you up to?"

"Uh well meine liebe it's just a surprize that's all. I don't want to spoil anything for you." Kurt said smugly, it was clear that he had been planning something for a while.

"Like I don't mean to interrupt what you two have going, but you could you like take this elsewhere." Kitty interjected as the two nodded, Kurt and Amanda disappearing in a puff of sulfur smoke.

"Katya, are you okay?" Piotr asked after the two had disappeared in a puff of smoke.

Kitty looked at him with a small pout before commenting, "Just a little envious that they can have fun while I have to work."

Kurt and Amanda appeared outside of the mansion by the pool, Amanda caught off guard by what she saw there. A picnic basket and blanket was out there under a tree, her smile apparent she now realized what Kurt had been planning or rather been up to lately. The two walked over there taking a seat as Kurt handed her some baked chicken, he had made sure to buy some very good food since his cooking was about as bad as Kitty.

"Oh my fuzzy elf I love it, so this is what you were up to while I was looking for you." Amanda cooed as she started to play with his fur, just the way that Kurt liked it.

"Ja, I knew that you would like it. I just had to do something special for you, ve really don't get to spend a lot of time together after all." Kurt replied as the two pulled out all of the food, the two enjoying the time that they finally had alone.

"Kurt, I really do wish that I could transfer to a close university, you know I miss you so much. It's so lonely up there with you here and me there." Amanda commented as the two started to cuddle, Kurt wrapping his tail around her after turning off his image inducer.

"I know the feeling iz mutual. I really do wish that ve could be closer together, but you know it would be hard for us." Kurt replied a little disheartened by the fact that the two couldn't see each other as much as they use to in high school.

Amanda started to smile before continuing, "Well we will just have to make the most of our time, isn't that right my fuzzy elf."

The two continued to tease and playfully flirt with each other while they were at it. The two were enjoying the time that they had together, both enjoying it until Kurt stopped for a moment. Amanda shook her head, she knew that attentive look, and it was when the Professor sent a telepathic message to everyone that was the only time Kurt looked like that. She watched as he stood up, bending over to kiss her on the cheek once more.

"I'll be right back meine liebe. The Professor wants us all downstairs to welcome the others back from Nova Roma. I know why don't you come with us?" Kurt said a little excited knowing that she would want to go with him.

"Sure let's go." Amanda said as the two disappeared in a puff of sulfur smoke, neither one realizing that two people were watching the whole scene from the tree line.

"Man the security in this place isn't adequate at all; I'm surprised Brandon hasn't insisted on upgrading their system." Leah stated as she watched Alan shift his weight a little.

"Yeah well what did you expect; most of the systems are in stand by mode any way. Besides they gave me a code to shut them off the last time I was here in case I decided to drop in again." Alan spoke as he dragged something on the ground heading for the back door, "about damn time I made it back here though. Oh yeah one last thing Leah, lets try to be on our best behavior."

"Hey what is that suppose to mean, I'm always…." Leah stated as she got cut off by Alan.

"Damn I wish for once you would make this easy." Alan barked as he kicked the thing he was dragging, seemingly upset about something.

Leah adjusted her hat some before speaking, "You know you aren't suppose to do that right? It is against the rules after all."

"Yeah well what can I say; I don't like having to be the one hauling this piece of shit." Alan bellowed in response as the two entered the kitchen, Alan smoothly opening the door as the two took seats in the kitchen.

"So are we just going to wait here?" Leah asked as Alan merely nodded in response, pulling out a flask to take a drink.

'At least this should be fun, got to admit that little mission dealing with Kincaid was a blast. I can't wait until I get to finish the job and deal with this Master guy. Speaking of bosses though, I better get a hold of mine. I'm walking a very fine line on this one,' Alan thought as he took another drink out of the flask before putting it away.

Brandon grunted as he lifted the last bag off of the Blackbird, Amara had decided to bring more than a few things from home this time. He gratefully nodded to Piotr, the man lifting the bags with ease as he finally stepped off of the plane. It was a little odd to go back to civilization all of a sudden for him, he had quickly gotten use to not having technology, but the others apparently hadn't. They all had disappeared every one of them saying they wanted to have nice hot showers.

"Well its good to see everyone again, glad to see the mansion is still in one piece." Brandon commented happily as the others walked over to him.

Scott was the first one to talk, as they closed around him, "Yeah its good to see all of you again to, so anything interesting happen while you were there?"

"Hmm well there were plenty of interesting events and I did learn a lot. Still hate jungles though, anything of note happen around here?" Brandon asked curious as to what had occurred while he had been gone.

"Like nothing really," Kitty answered as the group slowly made their way to the elevator, the older adults staying behind to talk.

"Da comrade, you haven't missed much of anything." Piotr added as Amanda made her way over to him.

"Uh hello I'm Amanda," she spoke gingerly as Brandon looked at her.

Brandon immediately sized her up before replying, "So, is this a new recruit well I got to admit that we are going to have to…"

"Nein, nein my freund, she iz my girlfriend. She has been anxious to meet you, she really insists on meeting everyone here." Kurt quickly interrupted before Brandon went too far with something.

"Ah okay, I'm sorry it was rude of me not to introduce myself any way. I'm Brandon Ayers, the former marine that has taken up residence here. It's nice to meet you, I don't know Kurt very well but he's a good guy for the most part." Brandon stated rather apologetically as the elevator door opened for them.

"That's okay; there isn't a need to apologize. It's nice to finally meet you as well; you have been a popular subject here since your arrival it seems. Kurt would talk about you occasionally, especially when you first arrived." Amanda commented as they all stepped inside of the elevator, the machine moving upwards as soon as the door closed.

"I am, didn't know that. I guess I can understand all of the gossip and all but really I'm just who I am. Gossip really spreads around here faster than the corp; I got to wonder if the marines are losing their touch." Brandon replied as the doors opened as they all proceeded to get off of the elevator.

"Brandon, Katya and I will see you later right, we want to hear all about the trip?" Piotr asked the two heading back up to their room.

"Okay I'll see you then, if you all would excuse me I hear the kitchen calling me." Brandon joked as he patted his stomach; he had gotten hungry over the flight back and wanted something to eat.

"Hey wait for me," Kurt said as he and Amanda went with him.

"Well it is nice to have everyone back, hey Rogue are you okay?" Scott asked as she started to walk away.

Rogue stopped a moment before answering, "Yeah Ah'm fane, later."

"You know Scott," Jean whispered as the two watched Rogue leave, "she has been really reclusive lately, even for her."

"Yeah I know, she won't talk about anything with me like she used too. Come on lets…" Scott said about to leave when they heard something coming from the kitchen.

Brandon stood there his hands glowing as he finally stood down, Alan and Leah had literally gotten the drop on him as soon as he entered the room. Amanda had been just as scared, Kurt moving in front of her for protection until he saw Brandon starting to laugh. It was a deep laugh as Brandon merely pulled out a chair from the table, Alan and the person that Kurt didn't know laughing along with him.

"Damn Alan, I almost turned you into a pile of ash. What the hell were you thinking?" Brandon asked partially joking with his friend, Amanda slowly letting her guard down as she watched them.

"Sorry little brother but I went fishing and I had the greatest haul ever. You got to see this one weights at least 200 pounds maybe more and most likely less if someone would have avoided the midnight donut run." Alan joked as he pulled back off a black tarp off of something that was lying right next to him on the floor.

"Oh what did you catch this time, better not be anything that brings me more trouble than what I already have. Hey is that Leah, I haven't seen you since that last get together with Johnson." Brandon said a little disheartened as he looked over at the other person that was in the room.

"Yeah it's good to see you again too; if you would excuse me I think I need some air." Leah stated as she quickly left the room, Amanda staring at them.

"Leah, please wait a minute," Brandon said as he turned his head away from, "make sure we get a chance to talk before you go, there are a few things that we need to talk about."

"I am aware of that, if you would excuse me sirs." Leah stated as she opened the door and walked outside to enjoy the fresh air.

Alan started to laugh as Kurt and Amanda stared at the three and watched how they were interacting carefully. Brandon walked over to the other side of the table, kneeling down he took a closer look at what Alan had brought with him. He jumped back in shock his hands immediately forming small energy blasts as he stared at the unconscious form of Kincaid.

"Do I even want to know how you pulled this off?" Brandon asked as Alan merely shrugged his shoulders in response.

"Probably best if you didn't, you wouldn't have like how we got the results we did." Alan answered as Amanda walked closer to the man tied up on the floor.

"Who is he and why are you treating him this way?" Amanda demanded, she wasn't familiar with the situation and didn't like how things were going for the time being.

"Hey kid this isn't any of your business," Alan started as Leah finally returned from getting her fresh air, "hey Brandon you might want to get the Professor here. I'm certain that there are more than a few questions for Kincaid here to answer."

"Kurt would you mind getting the professor for me, you might want to take Amanda here with you. Things might get a little messy and I don't want her to be involved." Brandon stated as Kurt merely nodded disappearing with Amanda in a puff of sulfur smoke.

Leah leaned up against the wall before talking, "They seem like nice people, young, innocent, and naïve but good people."

"Most of them are they aren't like us for the most part. The only two here that have experiences close to our own is Logan and X-23." Brandon commented as the three carefully watched Kincaid.

"Ah so X-23 has stuck around here huh, that's unusual. If you are stilling calling her that, it must mean she hasn't chosen a name yet though. A shame what Hydra put her though, she should have been allowed to be a kid." Alan said as he thought about the situation.

"That is very true sir; however, there is nothing that we can do about that. The past has been forged and can not by any means we have available be altered. If I may ask Lance Corporal Ayers, what is it like living here?" Leah asked respectfully, she still considered the honorably discharged marine her superior.

"It's just Brandon now Leah, I'm not enlisted any more. Well it has been nice, a lot nicer than the corp in most regards. The only thing that I miss is my friends that were in the marines, but I've made a lot of friends here as well." Brandon answered as Alan started to chuckle in response.

"Yeah especially a certain princess, Brandon really enjoys being around her. The two of you been having a lot of alone time fun while I've been gone." Alan teased as his friend started to turn a nice shade of red.

"Alan please, lets not bring that up now of all times." Brandon pleaded as his friend shrugged his shoulders again in response.

"Fine, but I expect some details this time around. I know that you two have been having some fun I mean…. oh damn I'm sorry Leah." Alan stated as he looked at her as she took a seat in one of the chairs.

"You have nothing to apologize for sir; I'm glad that you are happy Brandon. We should probably move Kincaid soon; he won't remain out of it for much longer." Leah responded her emotions and expression remaining hidden as she spoke.

"Yeah you are probably right…" Alan commented as he stood up, a puff of sulfur smoke filtering through the room before he could finish.

Professor Xavier appeared in the room with Kurt next to him, it made the return trip much faster than what it would have been. Alan nodded to him, as the Professor slowly wheeled himself around to see Kincaid for himself. Brandon watched the Professor carefully; he was concerned that he wouldn't approve of what Alan had done.

"Professor, I know that you…" Brandon started hoping to provide some support for his friends stopping suddenly when the Professor nodded at him.

"I understand Brandon," Professor Xavier spoke as he looked at Kincaid, "Brandon, Kurt please take him to the Danger Room, we'll hold him there until we have finished questioning him. Remember to treat him well and with respect, he is in our custody for the time being. I'll be there as soon as I inform all of the students about our guest."

"Of course Professor, Kurt and I can handle that. Alan can follow us later on," Brandon responded as he and Kurt walked over to Kincaid getting ready to follow the Professor's instructions.

"Yeah I'll be right there." Alan said only stopping for a moment when a beeping was heard, he stopped pulling out a very fancy cell phone, "hmm I better take this, and I'll be along later."

"Leah, why don't you look around, you could probably use some time to relax." Brandon said as Alan went outside to deal with his call.

"As you wish, I'm very interested to see your new home." Leah spoke as she walked off, heading for the study.

Brandon and Kurt disappeared with Kincaid as the Professor looked at Leah curiously. The young woman bowed slightly in respect before walking off, looking around the mansion carefully as she went. Professor Xavier watched her carefully before sending a quick message to all of the mansions occupants.

Professor Xavier started to wheel himself away before he thought of something important, 'This could hold the information that we need to find the Brotherhood, and I'm not pleased about how they did it. Still desperate times call for desperate measures, and I have to take advantage of the chance that this presents for us.'

Next Chapter: Traitor

The interrogation of Kincaid begins, and everyone works quickly as they try to get information out of him. While the interrogation continues, Amara and Leah run into each other.


	26. Interrogation

**AN: Well finally I manage an update once again, I apologize for taking so long. My health however has taken an unfortunate turn for the worse, I haven't been feeling well lately. I will attempt to update much sooner this time, but until my health improves it may be a couple of weeks before the next update. Be sure to review and I hope this chapter is up to my usual standards. **

Brandon and Alan stood there leaning up against the wall of the Danger Room as Logan attempted to persuade Kincaid to talk. The fact was that Kincaid had maintained his composure and so far had said absolutely nothing that was even close to useful. For the past thirty minutes they had taken turns talking to the man, and now Logan had recently just started to interrogate the man. Logan paced back and forth as the two watched him interrogate the man.

"Alright listen here bub; you are going to tell me where the Master and the Brotherhood are right now?" Logan threatened as his claws popped out trying to intimidate Kincaid further.

"Kincaid, Thomas serial number…." Kincaid muttered as he continued to recite the usual POW training that the military had instituted.

"Great another hour of this and I'll want to shoot myself." Alan muttered joking halfheartedly as he and Brandon leaned against the wall neither one of them moving.

Brandon sat down on the floor before whispering, "We have plenty of time, and it won't be much longer before Kincaid cracks. Hey there is something that has been bothering me though, why did you bring Kincaid here? You normally consider all the angles but you rushed here with him for some reason, I just want to know why."

"In normal circumstances I would have had you guys meet me at some secluded and isolated spot, but this is far from normal. I brought him here because there are some very unhappy people out there, and they wouldn't have hesitated to kill Kincaid where ever I took him. However, no one in their right mind would attack this place with you and all of your friends here. It was just a practical move that I made making sure that you all had enough time with our favorite little mutant hating traitor." Alan whispered the two staying as quiet as possible to keep Kincaid from hearing them.

"I understand I really wish you didn't bring him here though. His presence is very unsettling to a few of us and well it threatens the safety of this place," Brandon started as he looked at his friend, "this is just getting to complicated for my taste, it was so much easier following orders."

"Yeah it's a pain in the ass, but trust me I didn't bring him here without thinking it through. No one in their right mind would attack this place, and if Kincaid dies before he talks than my efforts would have been for nothing. I don't like working for my bosses, in fact they aren't too thrilled about this situation right now. Bah but who cares about those stiff bastards, they couldn't scratch their asses without approval from the Secretary of Defense." Alan softly said as the two nodded to each other in understanding as Logan worked Kincaid over with threats.

Brandon and Alan both watched as Logan literally embedded his claws right through the chair that Kincaid was sitting in for the time being. The claws had barely missed Kincaid's shoulders the two just shrugging as Logan continued to try his best to intimidate the man. Alan walked over to the man laughing a little as some urine ran down Kincaid's pants leg.

"Well I'll be damned old timer; you got him to piss himself. Not a bad job, but he still doesn't want to talk it seems, guess we are going to have to try something a bit more drastic. I was so hoping I would get a chance to chat with you Kincaid before well you know what I have to do." Alan bellowed as he withdrew his side arm, the MEU pistol clearly pointed at Kincaid.

"Humph, don't make me laugh, if I wouldn't talk to you when you captured me, what makes you think I will now." Kincaid mocked as Alan shook his head in distaste.

"Well, you see that was then and now well I intend to shatter your knee cap." Alan spoke eerily as he pushed the pistol down hard onto Kincaid's right knee.

"You wouldn't dare," Kincaid bragged as he watched their reaction, "I'm an army general if you don't let me go, the US army will burn this place to the ground."

Alan kicked the chair down forcing Kincaid to the floor before answering, "I'm so sorry to disappoint you moron, but no one will be coming here for you. In fact they wouldn't dare come here without something big occurring because it would incur the wrath of a lot of powerful individuals including the ones I work for at least for the moment any way. So how about I adjust my aim and neuter your ass?"

"Kincaid we could just as easily have the Professor rip into your piss ant mind and tear the information out. I mean that would be excruciatingly painful, and then there would also be the fact you would probably think you were five or maybe I could convince the Professor to make you think you are a chicken or something." Brandon interjected as Alan holstered his weapon before picking Kincaid and the chair up.

"You don't have the balls for that Brandon and neither does Xavier. You are both weak and so are all of your so called friends…" Kincaid stated as he stopped when Alan kicked him in the gut, forcing Kincaid back on the ground again.

"They might be weak Kincaid but I can promise you that I'm your worst nightmare. I got no problem doing whatever it takes to get things done, even if it means putting a few bullets in you that aren't life threatening. You don't want to push me Kincaid that much I can promise; I'm rather fond of the people here so you might want to watch your mouth." Alan threatened as he pulled Kincaid up again and withdrew his pistol once more.

The three looked at each other trying to figure out what they would do next, when the doors to the Danger Room opened. Professor Xavier wheeled into the room, stopping just in front of Kincaid and looking cautiously at the African American general. Brandon and Alan looked at each cautiously, neither one knew exactly why the Professor had chosen this time to enter.

"I am Charles Xavier, General Kincaid; I must admit that we have more than a few questions for you. While I would like to know more about this Master individual, I must know where he is keeping the Brotherhood. I would much rather you talk to me rather than letting Logan and the other three continue." Professor Xavier spoke attempting to rationally convince Kincaid to cooperate.

Kincaid merely leaned forward a little spitting at the Professor before responding, "I'll never help you freaks, you're all going to burn in hell. I can't wait to see all of you freaks get what you deserve."

"Hey Kincaid, you do know that the Master guy and Reaper are both mutants right?" Brandon asked curious to see the man's response.

"I will not believe the lies of the enemy, I have met both on many occasions they are humans who believe in a pure world without you mutant bastards. They are going to kill all of you mutant bastards." Kincaid remarked a dark laugh escaping from his mouth as the Professor and everyone else looked at him curiously.

"Hey Brandon, is it just me or does this guy make no sense whatsoever. He claims to hate mutants and he clearly does, but why would you work for them then. Damn this is just crazy; you would think a mutant hating bastard like him would be able to see the truth." Alan spoke the Professor suddenly turning pale at a thought that had just entered his mind.

Brandon looked over at the Professor before asking, "Hey Professor, are you okay? You don't look so good; maybe you should let us handle this."

"I'll be fine; there is no need for concern. I believe I know a way to get Kincaid to answer our questions. Why don't the two of you go get some food, I know that the two of you are hungry and must have a lot to catch up on." Professor Xavier stated kindly both of them knowing that the Professor wanted them to leave.

"Of course Professor, we'll be back after we take a small break." Brandon replied as he and Alan slowly left the room both unsure of what the Professor was planning.

Brandon and Alan disappeared from the Danger Room quickly, the Professor bowing his head slightly after they had left. Logan growled some, he wasn't sure what Charles was planning, but he didn't want any of the younger students around. He retracted his claws, staring menacingly at Kincaid, the army general remaining very still.

"General Kincaid," Professor Xavier started, "there is something I would like to show you, and while I don't know if this will convince you to cooperate you should know that it is the truth."

Kincaid started at the Professor before replying with, "Dirty mutant bastard don't you dare do anything to me."

"Charles, what are you up to?" Logan growled as Kincaid seemed to struggle slightly and then stop, it was clear that the Professor was using his telepathy to show him various images.

"It's not possible, its not…get out of my head." Kincaid screamed as he thrashed about in his chair finally getting the Professor to stop showing him the images in his mind.

"If it were any other situation I would not consider this except for the direst of emergencies," Charles Xavier spoke as he looked over at Kincaid who was sweating profusely, "however, I had to show you the truth. I'm asking you to please help me find the captured Brotherhood members?"

"I cant, I won't betray the Master. He is a human, I've seen him and he has no powers he is as human as I am." Kincaid yelled as he struggled against the ropes that held him in place.

"Well I have done everything that I'm willing to do, I could rip the information out of your mind like Brandon said, but that isn't something that I am willing to do. Logan, please try to get the location out of him as soon as possible." Professor Xavier spoke as he rolled off leaving Logan and Kincaid alone for the moment, at least until the Professor went back up to the control room of the Danger Room.

Logan grinned as Kincaid starred down the feral mutant, the two knew that the situation would really heat up since Logan knew how to get information that no one else knew. It only took a minute for Logan to start his mind games, trying to get the information out of Kincaid. He smiled as he started to try his usual techniques to get the man to talk, he had been saving these techniques until he was alone and now was his best chance to get the man to talk.

Back in the main part of the mansion Lean walked briskly through a hallway before opening a door that lead to a classroom. Shutting the door, she walked away turning into the living room and running into a few occupants of the institute. She bowed her head slightly before turning around to leave the room.

"Hey, you don t have to leave, this is a room for any one including visitors. Unless you don't want to talk with us, and then you can go back on your way." Jubilee commented as Amara and Tabby looked over at the person she was talking to, their backs had been turned to her until that very moment.

"That is not necessary; I just wouldn't know how to address you that is all. If you would excuse me, I should probably find Major Fitzgerald and request a new assignment." Leah started as she was about to walk away, her shirt's sleeve moving up and showing her tattoo, "It was very nice meeting all of you, and my name is Leah Carlson."

"Whoa, hey wait a minute." Tabby yelled as she got up running over to Leah and then pulling her over to Amara and Jubilee. "That is so cool; you got to tell me where you got such an interesting tattoo. I've never seen one quite like that, it's definitely something."

Leah hadn't struggled before but now she yanked her arm away before responding, "I'm sorry Miss, but that is something you do not need to know. I do not care to talk about past events with people that I do not know."

"Hmm well that's okay, but it's still a very cool tattoo. I'll never get one though; I just can't picture me with one." Jubilee replied as Leah looked over the three stopping once she got a close look at Amara.

"That's fine, you must be Ms. Aquilla. It is a pleasure to meet you; I have to admit that what Major Fitzgerald said about you does not do you justice. You are quite infamous in the corp for being the one to land Lance Corporal Ayers. Many female marines and daughters of high ranking officers failed were you succeeded." Leah stated coolly as she looked Amara over quickly.

"What do you mean exactly?" Amara asked a little concerned about what the visitor meant and figured that asking for clarification was the best way to understand the situation.

"In all honesty many women saw Lance Corporal Ayers as a way to advance their careers. Being the grandson of a powerful marine general has that affect; so many women sought him out. More than a few women were upset that you managed to land him, he is very picky about who he spends time with after all." Leah answered as Amara nodded in understanding.

"Brandon is picky about who he hangs around with? No offense, but he pretty much talks with everyone around here with the exception of Bobby." Jubilee interrupted as Leah smiled in response.

"That is not what I meant; I meant that in the time I've known Lance Corporal Ayers, Ms. Aquilla is the only person that I am aware of that Brandon made an overt attempt to date. He is very picky when it comes to women so when word got out he had a girlfriend it was very shocking and interesting information." Leah retorted as she closed her eyes slightly hoping that someone would come get her.

Amara smiled upon hearing that, but then frown before asking her next question, "Now that I think about it Brandon has never mentioned you, why is that? He better not have…"

"I can assure you that nothing ever happened between the two of us," Leah began as she secretly wished something had happened, "he was never interested in me in that manner. His reason for not mentioning me is probably due to the fact that he did not consider it important and also because I was scheduled for a long term deep infiltration assignment before Major Fitzgerald pulled some strings and had me reassigned to his team."

"That isn't much of an excuse, sounds like Brandon is going to be in trouble." Tabby said a small smirk on her face as Leah's eyes narrowed immediately.

"I did not mean to cause any problems for Lance Corporal Ayers; perhaps it would be best if you asked him for the answer to that question Ms. Aquilla. I can assure you that he meant no harm to you for not telling you about me, but his reason may revolve around the fact that he does not like to talk about what he did in the Marine Corp. Even among other members of the corp, he did not like talking about his duties and assignments." Leah replied her face actually showing some concern on it because she didn't want to cause any trouble for him.

"Yeah that sounds like Brandon, so how did you two meet and how long have you known each other?" Amara questioned as the others looked on in surprise, Amara had launched a mini interrogation into finding out about Leah and her relationship with Brandon.

Leah was taken aback a little by the upfront question before answering, "I have known him for about a year and a half, and I met him during a bet so to speak. You should know that I owe him more than any one else due to all of the help that he has given me. If not for him, Alan, and Johnson, I would have never made it into Force Reconnaissance."

"Well I'm going to find my boyfriend and find out what exactly is going on. You are supposed to tell your girlfriend about things like this." Amara barked storming out of the room while her two friends started to giggle.

"Mara doesn't seem very happy, I think Brandon's in big trouble. She has been a little moody lately now that I think about it; you wanna go watch the fireworks?" Tabby asked as Jubilee shook her head no.

"Well if you would excuse me, I should probably locate the major." Leah spoke walking away quickly from the two.

Meanwhile in the kitchen to friends were scouring the fridge for food. Alan opened a small container of food, taking a sniff and then tossing the container on the floor. He didn't know what the food was, but it smelt worse than the Tuesday surprise that Navy cooks would make on occasion. Opening another container Alan crossed his arms, this was even worse than being stuck in the desert with only a few emergency rations to eat.

"Hey Brandon, how come all you got in the fridge is this vegetarian shit?" Alan asked as he rummaged through the fridge, smelling a container of green food, "sweet mother of God, what the hell is this stuff. Somebody get me the number of a pizza joint before they try to poison me."

Brandon chuckled slightly before answering, "Stop over reacting and being such a baby, Kitty's a vegetarian and her cooking is well you know, and since Ms. Munroe was supervising the trip to Nova Roma, the cooking isn't up to its usual standards."

"Oh yeah you should have warned me about that girls cooking. I thought the Navy cooks were bad, but you don't see any of their food that could possibly be classified as a biological weapon. I buried that cookie she made, everything in a 50 foot radius died. So do we order a pizza or make a sub sandwich." Alan commented joking mostly as he pulled out the food he needed for a large sub sandwich.

"Sub sandwich because I don't have much money on me right now and I'm not surprised about the radius. You know that dead place out back, it seems a lot of people have buried her food and well nature suffers." Brandon answered as he reached up into a secret spot pulling out two cokes he had hidden in the kitchen.

"Whatever little brother, so how have things been going between you and the princess?" Alan asked as he started to make the sandwiches with a nice helping of ham and American cheese.

"Just fine and that's all I have to say about it. Oh yeah that reminds me though, I'm kind of engaged to the princess now." Brandon said conveniently slipping that last little detail into his statement.

Alan dropped the butter knife he was using on the mayo before responding, "No way are you kidding me, isn't it a little soon for that?"

"Look we aren't getting married any time soon; it's just a ritual I went through in Nova Roma that's all. It had to be done that way so her parents would approve, after all they are very important to her. I think I'm a long way away from being ready for a commitment of that nature." Brandon said justifying his reasons to the man he considered his best friend.

"Really, well I got two words for you," Alan replied a huge smile on his face, "bachelor party. I'm gonna throw you the biggest kick ass party know to man. Hell I better find a place that we can burn down because that might happen."

"Oh damn, come on Alan cant we just do things…"Brandon started to plead as Alan shook his head no in response.

Alan slammed a sharp clean knife through the sandwich cutting it in half while he talked, "Absolutely no way you are getting out of this one, and you might as well mark it down on your calendar. Don't worry it will be fun I promise."

"That is what I'm worried about," Brandon commented as Alan handed him half of the sandwich the two taking seats in the kitchen.

"You need to relax Brandon with all of the plans I have this is going to be a blast," Alan said a smirk appearing on his face as the two finally took a moment to eat the food.

"Exactly the reason why I am worried," Brandon started as Alan had a maniacal grin on his face, "the last time you said something was going to be a blast, it really involved explosions. It's not official yet any way, we both want to take our time because we aren't ready for that step yet. Well its more I'm not ready for that step; I just have a few things I need to handle first."

Alan carefully looked at his friend before responding, "Huh, what's up with you? No offense but you got a hot looking princess of a foreign country wanting to marry you and you claim to not be ready. Not to mention the two of you are all over each other, sounds like a good recipe for success if you ask me. So what's the problem?"

"It's just that I don't have a clue what I'm going to do in the future and I don't want to just sponge off of her parents and her title. I never really made a back up plan to being a marine, its all I ever knew so there was never really any question that I was going to be a marine. There is also the little fact that I have no idea how to be a prince or a king."

"Huh if that isn't a load of bullshit if I've ever heard it," Alan started taking a bite of his sandwich, "you already know what you are doing after being a marine. You are working here duh, I realize you don't get paid like a marine would but still this is your work. All considering what you can do, the only work you could get outside of here would either be as a mercenary or working for a shadow operation of the government."

"You know I would never consider doing either one of those. Even if this is a career as you call it, what about the fact I don't know anything about being a prince." Brandon retorted his friend merely dismissing his comment with a lackadaisical wave of his hand.

"Again your bullshitting, you grew up as a marine no doubt there, but there are a lot of similarities between the two. You may not know how to be a prince but you know how to lead people and that is much more important than some kind of rule they have. You also have the princess to help you out, so what's the real issue?" Alan barked he could see through his friend's usually strong smokescreens.

Brandon put his sandwich down pieces of lettuce and meat hitting his plate before responding, "I don't want to talk about it right now."

"Okay, but just remember that you can't make a whole life around the idea of beating that bastard Reaper. What you said may be partially true, and it probably is but I can tell there is something you are hiding. That's all I have to say about the matter, so when do you think the other bastard is going to talk." Alan stated as the two sat there eating their food.

They had only managed to eat a couple of bites before Amara burst into the room, causing both of the marines to look at each and then at her. The two looked at her and then back at each other and her again. She clearly wasn't happy and both of them seemed to realize it. Alan smiled as he bent over to whisper a few last encouraging words.

"I don't know what you did to piss her off little brother, but you better fix it fast before you end up single or worse a pile of ashes. You know what they say about women, I'm willing to bet it's even worse when said woman can literally burn you in the flames of hell." Alan whispered grabbing his food and running towards the exit.

"Brandon, why didn't you tell me about Leah? If nothing happened between you like she said then why didn't you tell me about her?" Amara questioned as Brandon gulped hard, he was definitely in trouble.

'Based on what I know about women, which is absolutely nothing, I'm so screwed. I have no clue what to do about this situation.' Brandon thought as he just looked at Amara, as she slowly approached him.

"Hello, I want an answer to my question; don't think for a minute that I'm just going to let this drop." Amara commented as she placed her hands on her hips as Brandon merely nodded in response.

'Oh yeah I'm in trouble, so I guess that leaves begging and pleading as the only options. I don't think I have a good answer for this kind of question any way.' Brandon thought as he finally decided on something to answer.

Brandon cleared his throat before responding, "I'm sorry Mara, nothing ever happened and believe me if I ever thought I would see Leah again I would have told you. I honestly expected to never see any of my marine friends again after my discharge. I swear I would have told you if I knew that we would be meeting her down the road. Besides she was supposed to be going on a long term infiltration mission, so I figured that she would be gone for a year or two."

"Well I guess I can forgive you then, but you better not ever do something like this again. You'll regret it if it does, understand? Now get over here for your punishment," Amara said viciously part of it teasing and part of it being a real threat.

"Yes ma'am," Brandon replied as he saluted her, "it will not happen again. I am aware that the consequences will be less than pleasant."

Amara laughed as she considered her options of what she could do to him for not telling about Leah. She crossed her arms seemingly in deep thought about what to do while Brandon waited impatiently for her decision. An idea crossed her mind, but she decided to wait until later.

"I've decided that I won't punish you right now, maybe later." Amara teased as Brandon merely nodded in response.

"This means you aren't angry at me right because I wouldn't know what to do if you were mad." Brandon commented as he pushed some of her stray strands of hair out of her face.

"Hmm well I guess its okay then, but you owe me one. I'll be sure to collect later on, you can count on that." Amara said as she moved in closer the two starting to kiss, it was very passionate considering they had been keeping things under wraps while they were in Nova Roma.

"Now that I think about this is the first time we have been alone in a while, maybe we should take advantage of it. We were almost always around others in Nova Roma; I wouldn't mind spending some time alone with you." Brandon said as he broke off the kiss, giving her a chance to respond.

Amara pouted a little before answering him, "You know what, you are so right. We should make the most of this before…"

Both of them grunted in frustration they could hear the Professor calling for everyone to assemble in the Danger Room. Brandon slumped his shoulders, his smile disappeared since this had to mean they had gotten the information out of Kincaid. Amara too was disappointed as they made their way to the elevator, being joined by most of the institute occupants including two visitors.

"Kincaid better have said something damn good to ruin such a moment, it was starting to get good." Alan barked as Brandon smacked his right hand against his head.

"Damn even my best friend is spying on me, don't you have something better to do Alan like blowing up some dictator or something." Brandon said teasingly as the others looked at Alan as the elevator descended into the depths of the mansion.

Leah interrupted them all loudly saying, "Sirs, I believe this is not the time or the place to talk about this. We should focus more on what our objectives might be since it is clear by this summons that things have preceded as plan."

"You know I'm starting to think he is right and you are all business and no fun. Remind me to order you to take a weeks vacation in the beautiful and sunny Bahamas." Alan said as they all stepped off of the elevator and made their way into the Danger Room.

"Sir, I beg your pardon but I do know how to have fun. I'm working however and that leaves little room for fun, and if you would please not mention the perverted moron when I was just starting to forget about him." Leah replied as everyone listened to their banter in the elevator.

Brandon coughed a little getting the two marines attention before speaking, "Maybe you two should talk about this some other time. I would prefer if you didn't call one of my friends that so why don't we just change the subject."

"Fine by me," Leah started before Alan laughed a little, "you sure have an interesting choice for a friend in that man though, and he's such a pain in the ass."

"So does any one have an idea of what this is about?" Scott asked as the two marines looked at each and nodded quickly.

"You'll see here soon soldier boy," Alan quipped as they entered the room, "Hey there Kincaid, did you miss me. I sure hope not because if you brought me down here for no reason, I'm going to have a lot of fun finishing the job, very slowly I might add."

The Professor smiled as all of the occupants of the institute seemed to be there together; even the guests had shown up. Everyone was staring at Kincaid, trying to figure out what exactly was going on with few exceptions. Alan looked at the Professor, the man was secretly hoping the Professor had received the information he wanted before he had to end the little question and answer session.

"I'll kill that bastard for what he did to us." X-23 barked as she charged forward only to be stopped by Alan, grabbing her arm forcing her to stop.

"Now, now kiddo, no need to get your hands dirty with this bastard's blood. Besides you don't want to waste your time hurting this idiot, he'll get what's coming to him I promise. Guess you and the old timer share more than a few blood cells; you both got a nasty temper and an even worse death glare." Alan stated calmly as X-23 glared at him and then at Kincaid.

"Fine," X-23 started as Alan let go of her arm, "but if he so much as moves I'm going to gut him."

Three people in particular glared at Kincaid, who was tied to a chair in the middle of the danger room. Dani, Noriko, and X-23 hated Kincaid for kidnapping them and were less than pleased with his presence. Noriko had moved behind Paige, she really didn't want to see the man at all. Dani was content to just stare at him, his eyes narrowing at the sight of her before Alan walked over to him and slipped a gag over his mouth.

"This is for your own good Kincaid, you say something stupid and they might want to kill you and in all honesty I would be more than happy to let Wolverine Junior there finish the job. Besides your final moment is going to be at my convenience, I haven't forgotten our little run in at your little playground when I tried to rescue those kids." Alan whispered as he tightened the gag and stood behind Kincaid with a rather large and sloppy grin on his face.

"I would like to start off by apologizing for my behavior lately," Professor Xavier started as everyone gave him their undivided attention, "the reason is that I recently found out that the Brotherhood members fighting with the Master are being controlled through drugs. I was desperately searching for them in order to launch a rescue attempt."

"That definitely explains some things Professor, but why didn't you tell us?" Scott asked, he had hoped the Professor would have come forward with such information sooner.

"I wanted all of you that were going to Nova Roma to go without worrying about this. I also didn't want to worry the rest of you until I had a plan of action to deal with the situation. However, I now know exactly where the Brotherhood members are, and we must make preparations to rescue them immediately. The Master has a training facility in South Africa that is currently holding the Brotherhood, which is our target." Professor Xavier spoke as everyone seemed to nod in agreement with three exceptions.

Logan stepped forward to add something to what was already stated, "You all got five days to be ready for the rescue attempt, our goal will be to grab all four of the Brotherhood members. Now all of you better go grab some rest or I'll be training you until its time to go."

"Our goal is to capture them correct; I'll make adjustments to my next few lessons. Tomorrow you'll be learning how to use tear gas, flash bangs, and sting grenades if there are any in all of those weapons Alan left on his last visit. Based upon what has been said knocking out or hindering the targets with non lethal weapons would be a huge advantage to us." Brandon barked as he immediately made plans to prepare the New Mutants.

"Don't worry those items are among the stuff I left here," Alan stated as he looked at his friend, "and don't you guys worry either, you'll have professional marines watching your six. I can't exactly let you guys have all the fun; I have some unfinished business with these piss ants any way. Leah make a note that we are going to blow their little hell hole of a base sky high if we get the chance." Alan said as he started to make plans of his own.

"I appreciate the offer Alan, but I don't think it would be…" Professor Xavier started as Leah quickly walked over to him, whispering something into his ear.

Leah bowed slightly to the man as a sign of respect before talking, "With all due respect sir, we are the best of the best, and now that Major Fitzgerald has made a decision you won't be able to talk him out of it. However, I'll try to change his mind later on; right now you're more than likely going to provoke him into wanting to fight even more."

"Very well, I'll let you handle it, as for the rest of you make good use of the time we have until we attempt the rescue. Logan, Hank, Scott, Ororo, and Jean if you could please come with me so we can start making the plans for a rescue attempt." Professor Xavier spoke as he motioned for Scott, Hank, Ororo, Jean and Logan to join him.

"Professor, I should probably go along to offer you my expertise in the area. Alan and Leah could also be useful since Recon marines are specifically training to rescue hostages." Brandon said calmly as the Professor looked over at him.

"I appreciate the offer Brandon, but for the time being I want you to prepare the New Mutants. This will be the hardest and most difficult mission that they have ever gone on and with your help they can be better prepared for the situation." Professor Xavier replied as the young man looked at him slightly disappointed about the response.

"The rest of you can go Leah and I have to transport Kincaid here somewhere else, don't want to leave him unguarded you know. Not to mention he isn't exactly welcome here to begin with considering what he has done." Alan stated interrupting his friend as he stared at Kincaid knowing exactly what he had to do.

Alan grabbed Kincaid leading the man away; he had remained eerily silent during the entire conversation. Leah accompanied him as the two lead Kincaid up the elevator, the man said absolutely nothing as they headed back outside to a Blackhawk helicopter they had borrowed from the army. It took a while for them to get there before Alan motioned for Leah to come closer.

"Return to the institute, I'll be back later. Your orders are to access the satellite network and check out the photos of our target. Be certain to check out all the footage we have on the area for the past 72 hours or so, pay particular attention to who leaves and arrives at the base. Check out all the intelligence we have on that area, just ask them to borrow a computer, it wont be a problem now get out of here. I'll take care of the rest of this mission." Alan barked, he didn't mean to sound so mean but he didn't want Leah to have any part of what he had to do.

Leah saluted before speaking, "Yes sir, I understand would you like me to check with any of our usual sources about the base and its personnel?"

"No, I don't want to tip them off about the situation. If they find out about it, then we might really have a problem because the Enterprise Battle Group is in the area doing exercises or so they say and they would then force the Joint Chiefs to attack the base. That would be a disaster attempting to rescue some people with the entire group of 15 or so ships launching an assault on the area. We can't fight an aircraft carrier and its escorts at the same time; some times you have to pick and choose your targets. That's why we can't because it places Brandon in jeopardy, I like a few of the people here but he remains my top priority." Alan answered as Leah moved to leave the area.

"I understand what you want, I'll start right away sir. Are you certain that this is the right course of action by not telling our superiors the truth about the situation, if you say it is I will of course follow your orders without any further question?" Leah commented as she moved away, only stopping when Alan cleared his throat.

"In my opinion it is because of what I said before about the situation. Remember this statement Leah; because it is the only real truth that I know," Alan started as he looked over at a silent and unmoving Kincaid, "I have very few friends left in this world, and Brandon is the best friend I have possibly ever had. You never abandon your true friends, and you never ever abandon someone you consider family."

Leah saluted before leaving; she had actually been surprised by what he had said. She walked away slowly as her commanding officer just glared at Kincaid. He didn't move for a moment, just taking in the moment or lost in deep thought.

'The only lesson I learned in the past was that you never abandon family and Brandon is family to me. I don't care where I end up be it heaven or hell but I will not end up there by abandoning him. Well enough of this shit, I guess it is time, I don't like the fact that I have to do this but it has to be done. My hands are tied and my options are limited for the moment.' Alan thought as he watched Leah leaving turning to face Kincaid.

"I would consider apologizing to you Kincaid but you are a bastard any way. If any one deserves to die it is you, so if you got any last words or some shit now would be a good time." Alan spoke as he pulled out his pistol screwing on a silencer so no one could hear the final shot.

"No, just make it quick." Kincaid barked as the weapon was leveled at his forehead.

Next Chapter: Pieces

Brandon starts training the New Mutants in the use of non lethal weapons to help capture the Brotherhood members. While the X-men and New Mutants prepare to rescue the Brotherhood, the Master and Reaper are making their own plans.


	27. Pieces

**AN: Well this took a little longer than expected, but here it is. I'm expecting to end this one around chapter 35 or so, but well I'm not for sure considering how I like to change my plans. Also I would like to thank all of those concerned about my health, I'm feeling much better now, but it will be a while before I feel completely back to normal. Take it easy and be sure to leave your review at the end. **

Alan Fitzgerald yawned slightly as he waited for his friend, it was getting kind of late not that he cared about time to begin with, but he was growing impatient until he finally saw the person he was waiting for. Brandon and Leah both entered the living room about five minutes apart from each other as Alan yawned once more. Waving his hand nonchalantly the three took a seat on the couch and a couple of chairs beginning their meeting.

"Well about time you made it Brandon, you spend way to much time with that fiancée of yours." Alan started teasing his friend as Leah's head snapped up looking at Brandon. "Oh right, onto business first and then we can talk about the fun stuff."

"Wait is that true Brandon, are you two really…" Leah asked dropping her normally stiff and stoic guard around the two closest friends that she had.

"Yeah it is, but this isn't exactly the way I want to tell people in particular my grandfather so if Alan can keep his big trap shut, I would appreciate it." Brandon retorted firing right back at his friend for his earlier comment.

"Right, whatever, you would think being engaged to a princess would make you less grouchy. Okay, since you seem to be really grouchy right now, you care to tell us why you wanted to meet us at such a late hour." Alan said as he looked over at Leah, who seemed slightly annoyed by the answer she had heard.

Brandon bowed his head slightly before speaking, "Well you see, I kind of need a favor from the two of you. I want you to teach them about the flash bangs, tear gas, and sting grenades. I asked a favor of someone to help me out with something that I have been trying to learn, and this was the only time that she could help me out."

"Secret training, what are you trying to learn exactly?" Leah asked curious as to what he was planning.

"I have been trying to learn something for a while now, but all of my attempts always ended up in failure. When it comes to my own mutant ability, I may look like I have it all under control but in reality I still have many things left to learn. This is just a very important part of the learning process; this is just one of many pieces that I need to learn in order to be more effective on the battlefield." Brandon answered as Alan leaned back in the chair.

"Fine by me, I got no problem teaching them this kind of stuff, but I do need a favor in return for it." Alan started as he stared up at the ceiling. "I know you wanted to avoid this, but we got no choice now and well I want your permission to well, you know, kill the enemy if the situation requires it."

"I might regret this but you have my approval, in all honesty though I was hoping we could avoid that. The world is cold enough as it is, but this could really have an adverse affect on them. If you could keep them from seeing it, I would appreciate it. I know it sounds naïve and foolish but that's how I feel about it." Brandon commented as Leah looked at him with a small look of surprise on her face.

Leah started to smile before answering, "Of course Brandon, we will do our best. I can't promise you anything, but I'll do what I can and so will he."

"Man what the hell, you finally decide to let your guard down to make a promise like that." Alan started as his smile disappeared and then a grin appeared. "Just kidding, I understand how you feel, don't tell the kids this but I kind of like them. Don't want to ruin my image as a marine from hell that likes to kill things you know. It would just be sad if the others thought I was going soft or some shit like that."

Brandon couldn't help but laugh at that comment before speaking, "Okay, I appreciate it. One last thing before we go to sleep, make sure Hammer and Cutter meet us there. On that note let's get some sleep before Logan notices our little meeting down here."

Alan walked in a straight line, observing all of the New Mutants so to speak. His marine like tendency was coming out in this matter, as he looked over at a couple of cases of non lethal weapons. Returning his gaze to the students, he realized that well he had no damn idea how to teach a bunch of kids to use them. The students started to talk among themselves until Alan let out a loud piercing whistle.

"Okay maggots, time to get serious, unfortunately for you Brandon is off doing some kind of special training. On that note however, no one is to use their powers for any circumstance, Brandon will handle any violators after he gets done with his work. That means you get to learn how to use these things from me, I'm only going to teach you how to use flash bangs right now. We'll move to the harder stuff later, first let me show you how to use a flash bang." Alan stated as everyone seemed to nod in agreement.

"Why does Brandon want us to use these things any way? Our powers are much better than these things." Ray stated as Alan got a very clever idea in his head.

Alan quickly pulled the pin, tossing the thing into the air as the students watched a burst of light and a sudden burst of sound come from the objects destruction. Pulling out another flash bang their teacher tossed it directly at the students, catching a few students off guard in particular Ray. To them it was a blinding flash of light and for a few precious seconds they were completely blind. What surprised them more was when the effect ended; Alan was directly in front of Ray standing there with his side arm drawn.

"Congratulations kid, you just got killed; well at least you would have if you were my enemy and my gun was loaded. Do all of you understand my point now and why Brandon wanted you to learn this? It's not about your abilities; you already have a good idea how to use those." Alan said as he holstered his weapon, "I'm not saying you don't have power, because you do have a lot of power. That being said however, power alone does not always dictate who will win a fight. I've faced off against mutants before using these things, and I have won or fought them to a draw. Using things like this can provide you with an advantage in combat situations, and that is something that is very valuable."

"I think I understand, so can I give it a try?" Amara asked as the substitute teacher so to speak walked over handing her a flash bang.

"Really, well then princess, if you can explain what I mean to the others then I'll let you try out of one of these." Alan started as a smirk appeared on his face, "It shouldn't be that hard if you really do understand your boyfriend."

"From what Brandon has told me, it has to do with using what you have on hand to insure the survival of yourself and your team. He also said that by doing this, you can guarantee you'll have a chance to complete the mission because the chances of completing a mission without a team are very low." Amara replied as she was surprised to see the man relent and started to hand all of them flash bangs.

Alan finished handing them out before speaking, "Not bad, I got to admit princess that is a very intriguing point. You definitely know your boyfriend, because he would definitely say something like that. That point aside however, if you ever want me to call you by your name or codenames, you are going to have to earn my respect by proving your worth until that day, you are going to get some nicknames you probably aren't going to like."

Alan watched as they all lined up pulling the pins and tossing the flash bangs into the air. They all went off without a hitch, the man who was teaching them nodding in satisfaction. Learning things like this was normally easy for anyone, but the fact was he was worried that teaching the kids might be harder than it first appeared. He motioned for Leah to bring the next case over to him; he would let them practice with one more round of flash bangs before moving on to something else.

"Not bad for a bunch of maggots," Alan started as Leah sat the box down next to him. "I've seen better though, your releases are sloppy and your timing is off. You need to toss them higher and do not hold them when you pull the pin. You pull the damn pin and toss the damn things, you maggots should be grateful we aren't teaching grenades. Leah hand out another round of flash bangs, these maggots need more practice."

"Here you go, please remember that flash bangs can be an important advantage, but can also be used as a potential weapon against you. Your abilities make it hard for normal soldiers or marines to keep up, but even the slightest distraction can be used by a professional to their advantage." Leah commented as she walked down the line handing out the flash bangs.

Alan recalled the first wave in his head, walking over to Ray and Roberto before speaking, "In particular these two need practice, your delivery sucks and you throw like little girls. My grandmother could toss flash bangs better than you and she's in a wheelchair. What's the malfunction with you two any way, you would think that one of you would have a brain and be able to handle something so simple."

"Sir, don't you think you are being a little too hard on them and as far as I know you don't have a grandmother." Leah spoke softly as she moved closer to the man.

"No, Brandon has been babying them some because he wants to move them along slowly. I don't have time to baby them, he could have turned them into real fighters in 8 weeks, and instead they only have the basics down and a few intermediate moves. I got one day to teach them this and they either get it or well it might cost them big time later." Alan began as he watched them try again, making sure they could hear what he had to say after seeing the result. "That's a bit better you maggots, it's a shame that sparky and sunshine here is being out done by a princess and a kid that can make clones."

Ray and Roberto looked at each other both of them getting the exact same idea in their head. Pulling the pin on their flash bangs early, they tossed them at Alan hoping to catch the man off guard and pull a fast one on him. Ray was eager to get back at him for his earlier stunt and well Roberto couldn't let Ray out do him. Everyone was blinded for a moment as Ray and Roberto charged in using the hand to hand moves Brandon taught them only to learn something the hard way.

"This is pathetic; all this time with Brandon and this is the best you can do. I've seen marines' fresh out of boot that could do better than this." Alan spoke as the two turned to see that he had moved behind them.

"Yeah well, Brandon does a better job teaching us; at least he doesn't treat us like crap or call us maggots." Ray responded as he charged forward preparing to use some basic hand to hand on Alan.

Ray's punch never connected as Alan grabbed his arm and flipped him over his shoulder. Ray landed on the ground hard as Roberto charged in, only to have his feet swept from underneath him. Roberto was in shock as Alan launched a punch at him only to purposely miss the target. Both of the guys were shocked that the man had reacted so violently, but then again the two had started it to begin with by trying to show him up.

"Well you might be maggots but at least you have spirit, but that still doesn't excuse your poor discipline and behavior. I'm not playing with you guys; this is not a playtime situation. I'm trying to teach you something that might save your damn lives or the lives of your friends. That's why I have to teach you this way because we don't have time to learn the nice friendly way. You might hate me, but you will learn this in one day." Alan spoke as all of the students grew quiet after those last words.

"Major, you are…" Leah started as Alan stopped her with a cold stare.

"Now get back to work, I'm tired of this bullshit. You'll either learn this or I'll have you running laps until its time to go. Leah, hand out another round of flash bangs. Some of you are almost there, some of you however, need a lot of work." Alan bellowed as he waited for the results.

Alan's eyes narrowed as he witnessed the third salvo of flash bangs go off. He had watched most of the students and by now most of them had gotten it. Naturally he could have taught them some moves to compliment the flash bangs, but that wasn't part of his assignment and two certain kids were beginning to annoy him. Jubilee seemed to have the most problems with flash bangs, but in his mind that wasn't a big problem.

"Okay, we have wasted enough time on this. Not bad, you guys are finally starting to get things. You get a five minute break before we move onto the next exercise, and believe me this is very merciful, so thank whatever god you believe in." Alan bellowed as he pulled out a flask and took a drink while the students huddled around each other.

'If I'm still sane at the end of this day, Brandon owes me a bottle of whiskey for this little exercise. This has been a real pain in the ass, now I remember why I hate teaching and teachers. My so called students are going to hate me for weeks, but I guess it will all work out in the end.' Alan thought as he put his flask away before looking over at Leah actually being human.

Leah walked over to Jubilee handing her another flash bang before speaking, "You just have to throw it higher and faster once you pull the pin. The major is content however to let this go if you want to stop. Your ability is almost like a flash bang for the most part."

"No way, I can do this. If the others can learn this, then I can learn to do this too." Jubilee replied as she pulled the pin and threw the flash bang much faster this time.

"You did better this time, I had problems learning this too when I was a recruit. You have to learn how to do this just right or you'll end up blinding yourself. Just keep trying and I'm certain you can do it." Leah stated as she handed her another flash bang.

"Thanks, no offense but how come you aren't as cold as you were before. I mean the first time we met you, you were like ice cold, with almost a machine like personality." Jubilee commented as a soft smile appeared on the older girl's face.

"I guess that I'm starting to get use to all of you, and that means I'll lower my guard. The reason why I act the way I do is because of the fact that I am a woman in almost a completely man's only world. That personality is my way of coping with that world, and it takes me a while to stand down when I'm around people I don't know." Leah answered as she helped adjust Jubilee's aim and watched as the girl finally got it right.

"Did I do it right this time?" Jubilee asked as she nodded in response. "Yeah, I knew I could get it done. It just took me a little while that's all, I'll learn the next one in record time."

It was at this time that a familiar face emerged from the mansion, a tired looking Brandon had finally appeared. Wiping off some sweat with a towel, he motioned for everyone to gather around him. He looked over seeing Alan carrying the box of sting grenades, which would be the next lesson. Looking over his students, he couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. Alan could be a harsh teacher, and it seemed they had been on the receiving end of his teaching style for the past two hours.

"It looks like you did a good job Alan. They got flash bangs a lot quicker than I thought they would, but I managed to finish early." Brandon stated as he was handed the box with the sting grenades in it. "If you don't mind Alan, I would like to teach them about sting grenades. You guys really did a great job, but we are just getting started."

"Feel free, I don't feel like teaching them anything else any way. I just hope you start toughening up on them, they are way too soft and you have babied them to much. If they ever hope to stand their own ground against a powerful enemy, then you are going to have to stop babying them and start teaching how to fight for real." Alan replied as he took a few steps behind Brandon.

"I appreciate your opinion Alan; we'll talk more about this later. I don't want to spend precious training time discussing this right now; I promise that later you can address all of the concerns you have regarding their training." Brandon commented as he was about to continue when Ray interrupted him.

"Well I hope learning this is a lot easier than learning from Alan," Ray spoke as Brandon reached down to open a new box of devices, ignoring the comment Ray had made about his friend.

"These are the latest in non lethal grenades, we call them sting grenades. Unlike the flash bangs you have practiced with, these have a different effect. They work the exact same way as a flash bang, you pull the pin, and then toss at the target. These however are filled with hard rubber balls that are designed to incapacitate an opponent. In all likely these are going to be our best bet to knock the Brotherhood out before Dr. McCoy administers a tranquilizer or Forge uses whatever the hell he has up his sleeve. Now I'm going to show you how they work with that practice dummy Alan so kindly set up for us." Brandon said calmly as he pulled the pin and tossed the sting grenade at the target.

"So what so great about them, so far I haven't seen anything," Roberto commented as the grenade went off with a bit more power than expected.

All of the students were amazed at how quickly the rubber balls seemed to shoot out a lot of them ramming straight into the dummy and leaving small marks on it. The balls shot out in all directions however, a few heading straight for the students only to be stopped at the last minute by an energy barrier. Brandon stood there as he judged the effectiveness of the sting grenade, Alan looking at the target as well.

"Whoa now I never expected to see something like that," Jaime said as Paige nodded in agreement, she had blushed a little when the young man had moved in front of her to protect her from the effects.

"I have to admit," Tabby said as she looked at the effects, "that is really cool. So when do we get to try them out?"

"Sorry like I said you only get to see a demonstration because not all of you will be carrying these. We don't have that many so, Jaime, Jubilee, Rahne, and Dani will be the ones that besides Alan and Leah to have these grenades." Brandon answered; he had carefully selected those four individuals for very special reasons to handle the grenades.

Ray and Roberto however weren't please both yelling, "How come we don't get them?"

"That's a very good question, and I can answer it simply with the fact that those of you that aren't carrying them will be expected to protect those that do with your abilities. You see these grenades also react to things like heat, electricity, and other elements. We don't want to prematurely set them off, so that's why those four get to handle them. I won't even have them because I'm not for certain how they would react to my own powers. These things are going to be a big edge for us, so don't feel bad if you aren't carrying them because I'm not either." Brandon spoke calmly; it wasn't a big problem for him to explain his reasoning.

"That sounds reasonable, but these things look complicated, are you sure we can handle them?" Jaime asked as Brandon nodded in response.

Brandon handed him one of the sting grenades before answering, "They aren't that hard to handle trust me, okay the rest of you will be spending the rest of your day in the Danger Room. We are going to be doing some nice exercises to get you ready; those of you that are getting the sting grenades are going to get a lesson from Leah about safety and usage."

The students merely nodded in response as Alan being the eager marine that he was his eyes lit up at the mention of the Danger Room. When the X-men made their first real public battle fighting against Juggernaught, the Marine personnel wondered how they were trained to fight such an enemy. Naturally when Alan had learned about the so called Danger Room, he wanted to test the machine out himself to see if it really earned the title. It didn't take long for the students to notice an interesting grin on the red haired man's face.

"Hey wait for me; I want to try that death machine out to. Let's crank the bad boy all the way up; I want to see how much damage I can cause with you guys. After all we are going to be working together and well last time was easy because you only had to watch my back. This time is going to be different." Alan said as he grinned, he always wanted to get a chance to train in there.

"Fine, just don't blow the thing up, that's the last thing I need to happen. Logan is still on my ass about how the X-men haven't been able to use the chamber as much after my so called demolition sessions." Brandon replied as the others started to walk with the two.

"You worry too much, what's the worse that could happen?" Alan asked a devilish smirk on his face as Brandon stopped for a minute to think about it.

"Oh I can think of plenty of bad things, and that's why I think I'll just let you watch from the control room. Maybe next time, you can train inside of the machine." Brandon answered as his friend's smile grew large at that idea.

"Yeah I guess you are right, but I'm going to train in there one of these days." Alan replied as the others looked at him curiously.

"So what will we be learning today exactly?" Amara asked curious as to what her boyfriend was planning, he was usually very secretive about lessons and only told her when the others were around to hear as well.

Brandon paused for a moment before answering, "Well Mara, today you'll be doing basic teamwork exercises. I want all of you to know that after this exercise, you will be having the rest of the time until the mission off, in fact I want you to have fun on these next few days."

"Whoa that's great, Sammy, you can finally take me shopping. We are going to paint this town red with all of the fun we have." Tabby shouted as Sam bowed his head slightly in response to the comment.

"Okay Tabby, but let's take it easy on me." Sam answered as the others merely smiled when Tabby gave him a kiss on the cheek causing the southern boy to turn a bright red color in response.

"Hey Brandon, you planning on doing what I think you are doing?" Alan whispered as his friend just continued walking. "No offense, but do you really think they are ready for that. I mean they are just a bunch of kids after all, granted they have improved greatly from the intelligence I had on them before you arrived here but still its just like you told me they aren't marines."

"No, they aren't ready for that type of exercise. It will also be the way I determine if they are ready for something that I have planned. What you are thinking of is going to be the mid term from hell for them when its time for them to go through it. That is going to be their grade for the mid point; the Professor likes to get graded reports on their progress so he can make adjustments or help them grow. I plan on doing that in a couple of weeks; it will be interesting to say the least." Brandon answered as he stopped for a moment; he smiled as he looked them over.

**South Africa: Undisclosed Location**

Reaper grunted as he walked down the marble and nicely decorated hallway leading to his master. A few servants walked passed him bowing respectfully to the irritable mutant as he arrived at doors that lead to his master. They were ornately decorated doors, doors you would expect to see in a palace or a high class mansion, as two guards opened them revealing a cloaked figure sitting inside watching various monitors with information on them. The room was filled with monitors displaying information with the cloaked figure merely looking over it all with some interest.

"Ah Reaper," the Master started as his faithful servant bowed to him. "I assume you are ready to resume serving me. That is very good because I have a couple of very important missions waiting for you."

"Of course Master, I will crush any and all insects that oppose you. Particularly if that insect is named Odin, the mere thought of killing him makes me quake with anticipation of the event. It will be most pleasurable for me." Reaper barked as the Master merely smiled from his seat above his servant.

"Your personal war with Odin will have to wait for another time Reaper, but I promise you will have a chance to end his life permanently very soon. You will be accompanying Mystique and I to a prison facility that is run by those pathetic fools at SHIELD. We have a couple of new recruits I want to pick up, while two of my new recruits are at this prison two are not." Master spoke as his servant looked up at him seemingly confused by the assignment.

"Master, I understand the assignment, but why do you need to recruit more insects." Reaper began as he bowed his head in a show of respect. "I can surely handle whatever you have in mind; you have no need for the insects that are being stored in that facility."

A dark smile crossed the Master's face before he responded, "On the contrary Reaper, these are no insects. In fact with their help you will be able to inflict unimaginable pain upon Odin and those pathetic fools that follow Charles Xavier. Doesn't the possibility of inflicting that much pain warrants them be allowed to join our cause?"

"Of course Master, please forgive my shortsightedness. I am after all only a weapon meant to serve at your pleasure." Reaper stated as the Master merely waved his hand in response.

"It's not a problem, but first things first we must remove some dead weight from around our waist. I want you to make preparations for our little trip, not that it will be that difficult. SHIELD is merely one of many players in this game, but for my plan to continue they must be eliminated to the point where they no longer pose a threat to the plan." the Master stated as all of the monitors changed to a layout of the facility that they were currently using.

'The other players are also a problem, but SHIELD is first on the list. Henry Ayers will most assuredly fight me with everything he has at his disposal as well as the other Joint Chiefs once they realize the truth. My largest problem is turning out to be Magneto, he has proven most difficult to track down and eliminate. Xavier and his students aren't much of a threat, but there are exceptions to that. Weapon X and his clone, and also Odin pose a real threat to me. Then there is that group, they may turn out to be an even larger problem than Magneto. They have more powerful mutants than I originally thought possible especially that witch or sorceress or whatever the hell she calls herself.' Master thought as his mind shifted to the other players that he knew were in his way for the moment.

"As you wish Master, but who will we be leaving in charge here? We can not leave the Brotherhood unattended; they are completely useless without someone to order them around." Reaper replied as his cloaked boss motioned his hand causing a door to open.

Out of the dark room Reaper watched in surprise as two individuals stepped into the room. The first he recognized as Gauntlet, a grey toned mercenary that had the group known as Hydra implant him with the latest of cybernetics. The second man Reaper recognized easily, Omega Red, that man literally needed no introduction due to his unique appearance with his additional metallic appendages. The two men stood before the Master, both smiling as they bowed slightly in his presence.

"I am happy to be of service to you once more," Gauntlet spoke as he attempted to be polite. "You were after all the one that truly manipulated and controlled Hydra."

"Hydra may have failed, but there are many useful things that I have access to thanks to that failure. Look for the silver lining after all; even in defeat we make many gains. These two will be in charge of the base while we attend to our business, but after we attend to our business we will be abandoning this facility. The time to make our intentions known has finally arrived, and once these four join us we can finally begin the second step of my plan." Master bellowed as the three looked at him with respect in their eyes.

Omega Red stood there a smile crossing his face before speaking, "Da, soon Mother Russia will..."

"Now, Omega we have many goals to accomplish before dealing with Mother Russia. First we must accomplish this goal, which will greatly demoralize SHIELD and cause it to lose the support of the US military for its failures. After that we will be prepared to go to stage two." Master interrupted as Omega Red merely nodded in agreement.

"How will this prison break so to speak accomplish those goals? Are you certain that it will cause those two events to happen?" Gauntlet questioned slightly cautious about the situation that was occurring.

"Oh it will, simply because such a strike will demoralize the grunts of SHIELD and one of the prisoners that we free will be the reason for the US government to stop supporting them. The military as it is does not believe SHIELD can handle the mutant situation and this will allow us to convince them it is true resulting in a decrease in support for SHIELD." Master answered as he pressed a few buttons on a computer causing some monitors to change into pictures of the prison facility and the lights in the room to dim at the same time.

The picture was of a heavily guarded and clearly well constructed facility. Armed guards with the latest in weapons and armor were shown as well as something they had never expected automated robotic sentries designed by Stark Enterprises. The facility had tripled the security that NRI had due to the fact of who was being held there. Pressing another button four monitors changed to four different pictures of who they were targeting.

"Of course I'm certain you recognize our first target being the Juggernaught. I have decided that we need more raw muscle and he will serve me one way or another. He has been moved to this facility because of all of the security failures in his last holding cell. It seems the American government is tired of paying for all of the destruction he causes." Master spoke as the picture of that man disappeared as the next picture appeared.

"Master, is this who I think it is? He would be a wonderful addition to your cause but he couldn't possibly be held at this facility?" Reaper questioned, he knew the next man from studying the Master's files.

Laughing slightly the Master merely nodded before moving on, "Yes that is him, and I'm surprised you recognized him though. No we will have to send someone after him, he has managed to evade capture, and he will be very useful to us however. Now this next one is a bit special, she has a rather large grudge against Weapon X, but she isn't being held at the facility which means I'll be sending her a message to meet us."

"You mean Lady Deathstrike," Gauntlet started as he stared at the third picture, "I heard rumors she was still hunting him, but why would she serve you?"

"She will because I will offer her what her heart desires the most. The forth target will remain hidden until the time of the operation, however that one that will cause the military to falter in their support of SHIELD. The military will stop supporting SHIELD because of his escape, but he will be the hardest to free." Master replied as the others nodded in understanding.

"Master, your plan and the people you have selected are without question. I eagerly await the opportunity to crush and destroy these SHIELD insects and show them the truth of your might." Reaper bellowed as Omega Red and Gauntlet looked at the mutant as if he was completely crazy.

"Yes but that leaves the next part of my plan," Master started as he pressed down a button summoning Mystique to the room, he waited patiently as one of his human servants entered the room.

"Master, I beg your forgiveness for intruding on your meeting. The main facility reports that it has completed all preparations and that they are eagerly awaiting your arrival. He also reports that all units have been placed on stand by, but there is a problem."

Reaper grabbed the servant quickly only to release him a moment later. The servant stood there gasping for air after being released as the Master walked over to him. Looking down at the man, he used his powers to turn the lights back on to their usual levels.

"What is this problem?" Master asked as the man trembled slightly due to fear.

"It seems that General Kincaid has disappeared sir, this picture was taken by the security camera and well the picture is not of very good quality. We ran a background search on this picture and well sir, the thing is that the search came up with nothing." The servant answered as Reaper glared at him with his eyes.

"Is that so, I guess the military is still unaware of our little spy program. I wish to see this picture of this man on the main monitor immediately." the Master barked as the human servant quickly went to work on the computer.

"Master, I'm afraid that there isn't much to see. For some reason the base security system went down and only this very grainy image was retrieved by our security program." the servant spoke as the picture was displayed on the main monitor.

The room was quiet as the Master and the others looked over the picture. It was impossible to make out any details about the man; the only thing that could really be seen was a figure with an indistinguishable face. The only detail that they could make out was a flicker of red hair shown by the camera.

"Well now this is pathetic, Reaper execute this man for failing to provide me with proper information. Have someone fix this picture, I want to see this man's face and then get me Deadpool. This person must be taught a lesson for what he or she has done, and Deadpool is the perfect person to teach that lesson." the Master bellowed as Reaper promptly dealt with the servant by feeding on him with his hand and tossing his body aside into a corner as soon as he finished.

"Well at least we finally got rid of that pathetic failure in Kincaid right Master?" Reaper asked as the Master actually started to pace in the room.

"No I'm afraid this is a very large problem, if Kincaid talks many of our operations could be put at risk." the man started as he came to a few decisions. "Order any facility that we have with one exception being the main one to increase their security patrols. I also want the other facilities to begin transporting key materials and items to the main base at once. We have no idea who has Kincaid or what information has been leaked so this is our best move."

Gauntlet nodded bowing his head slightly to carry out the orders while the door finally opened revealing Mystique. Gauntlet merely walked past the shape shifter without paying her much attention as Omega Red stared at Mystique. She ignored him, walking up to the Master bowing her head slightly in respect before seeing what he wanted.

"Mystique, it's about time you decided to grace us with your presence. I was starting to grow impatient, but no matter, I have a new assignment for you. You will be coming with us to handle a nice little prison break so to speak. Now I expect both you and Reaper to be waiting for me in about a week. I have many preparations to make in regards to our new allies and I also need more time to determine who has captured Kincaid." the Master barked as Mystique merely looked at the dark hood.

"Fine as long as you remember our agreement," Mystique answered as the man merely nodded in agreement.

"Master, I have another matter of some concern to address with you. There is something odd going on in American fleet deployments as of late." Reaper started as he brought up a satellite image of the Enterprise Battle Group. "They are currently 125 miles off of the South African coast, but they could easily attack us from there. Is it possible those pitiful insects will attack this location, if so may I suggest a pre-emptive strike to eliminate their presence."

Reaper watched as the Master seemed to stare at the small fleet before answering, "They are nothing to worry about for the moment any way, Admiral Pike would have already launched an attack on us if he believed that we were here, but just in case we shall prepare a nice little welcome package for them."

"Master, please grant me the privilege of making these insects suffer." Reaper stated slightly begging for the opportunity to wipe out the fleet.

"No, if they move within 50 miles then they shall receive the surprise of a life time. I have the military's latest sentinel designs and now I am prepared to turned their own weapon against them. How ironic, they designed the sentinels to protect them and now their own protection will be used to destroy them. What I wouldn't give to see Pike's face when and if his fleet is destroyed by the very weapon he was so adamant against developing." the Master stated as he pressed a few buttons, five sentinels coming online at that very moment.

"Of course Master, your knowledge of the American military insects is most impressive. I will follow your every order; I will begin preparing for our new mission immediately." Reaper barked as the Master merely nodded dismissing him with his hand.

"Now that he mentions it, you do know an abnormal amount of information about the military of the United States. Not even Magneto could manage to predict their movements or what weapons they were developing, and you have to have another source besides Kincaid." Mystique started as the Master ignored her for the moment. "Why is it that you seem to know everything about them before they do it? You must have an impressive high ranking spy to give you this kind of information."

"I suppose it would look that way to someone that is used as a spy like you. I don't need to remind you that you really don't need to know about how I know this; it isn't any of your concern. I don't go poking around your past with Magneto, not that it matters since I know it all already thanks to my spy in his ranks." the Master answered as the woman's eyes narrowed in frustration in regards to the man's answer.

'It's quite ironic how I know what I do. I know the truth hidden in the shadows, but no one has yet to realize the truth about me. In order to get what I desire, I must follow my plan to the letter. Very soon my intentions will be know and it will be very costly for anyone to stop me. I must bide my time and wait until the moment is right.' the Master thought as he took a seat on his chair, it was time for some more planning in regards to the future he was developing.

Next Chapter: The Grey Land

With only one day left before the mission, everyone is on edge while trying to relax. When they finally arrive, things become hectic when Alan's combat team finally reunites with new intelligence changing the entire situation.


	28. The Grey Land

**AN: Hello everyone, I'm sorry about the wait for the next chapter, but this stupid internet is driving me crazy. This isn't my best chapter in my opinion, but at the moment I'm just trying to get to from point A to point B and get the action started. I've been suffering from some writers block lately and I have the worse internet connection known to God. I'm only able to post this after begging and bribing my little brother's girlfriend to let me borrow her internet. Okay I think I've ranted enough so let me know what you think of the chapter. Take it easy.**

Everyone walked slowly onto either the Blackbird or the Velocity, and it was easy to determine how the seating was determined. Odin, all of the New Mutants, Alan, Leah, Beast, and Storm were all placed on the Blackbird together. Since Alan's team needed access to the supplies on the plane and the New Mutants would need access to the non lethal weapons on board it was easy to decide. The X-men along with the Professor, Forge and Logan would all ride in the Velocity. As both vehicles accelerated and the Blackbird reached cruising altitude, Alan and Brandon both removed their safety belts and opened the door leading to the back of the Blackbird.

"I'm a little amazed we still have so much room left, although I'm betting all of those mystery boxes of yours won't be coming back." Brandon commented as the two walked back there, the fact was that a lot of space was being used by Dr. McCoy holding cells and the equipment that he needed for them.

"Hmm, well it took a little effort to get it all in, but it should work out in the end. Granted I was wondering something, why only teach the New Mutants about non-lethal weapons? Having the X-men handle those things would have been a good idea as well." Alan spoke as the two looked over the boxes.

"I know, but Forge was doing something with them. I think they were working on something else so it can't be helped. Besides they have been so busy training with Logan that they really haven't had time to learn it." Brandon replied as his friend pried opened the first box.

Alan pulled out a modified rifle handing it to his friend before replying, "Well if the old man is involved then I guess they can take care of themselves. This could get really nasty, if at all possible I would say blow the place to hell and screw rescuing the Brotherhood, but that's not an option is it. Be worth it in my opinion to get rid of the Master and his little cult like followers."

"No it's not, and it looks like you have prepared to capture the targets any way. Besides I'm for sure that hitting them with a normal bomb would get rid of them any way." Brandon began as he looked over the rifle, sliding the rifle open to find a surprise. "I can't remember the last time that you actually used a rifle that could fire tranquilizer darts. I'm guessing you'll use these and then use the fall back plans if this fails."

"Yeah, but if things go to hell and it looks really bad I'm not going to hesitate to switch to live ammo. That reminds me; I wanted to get your opinion on something." Alan replied as he reached into the box and pulled out a slender sniper rifle that looked like a cross between a traditional sniper rifle and assault cannon.

Brandon put the other weapon on the ground before he handled the new weapon with care before speaking, "Nice, but what is it? It bares some similar characteristics to the M82A1A, but it's got a smaller barrel and looks like it carries a bigger cartridge. You've been making your own adjustments haven't you?"

"Yeah, this thing has a max range of 1200 yards; I sacrificed some range for more firepower. I test fired this damn thing and well lets just say the results were very impressive. It's a brand new type of gun, doesn't jam and it is easy to reload. Has a few other surprises as well." Alan started as he seemed to drool slightly when thinking about his new gun. "I also made some adjustments based upon my fight with Mystique and Deadpool, this weapon is better suited to close range combat. Last time I held my own, this time I intend to win. This is just one of many surprises I have just in case, I've had a while to think of new ways to fight them."

"You haven't changed a bit, but for someone like you to survive its to be expected," Brandon started as he handed the weapon back to Alan. "I have to ask you about something as well. Do you really think that I was too soft on the New Mutants?"

Alan sighed slightly before motioning for his friend to sit down. He knew this was coming after he made that comment, and apparently it was time. Putting his new weapon back into the box, the man took a seat next to his friend to talk about the situation. The two just sat there for a moment before Alan finally broke the silence.

"Yeah I think you have been too soft on them, they have a lot of problems you need to address. Ray and Roberto, those two tried to use a flash bang on me, which was reckless to say the least. Their hand to hand skills suck, and well their lucky that flash bang wasn't as loud as it should have been. The sound wave was very light for the most part, probably because they were green or didn't use it right or it could have been a dud who knows." Alan commented as he looked over at the equipment that Dr. McCoy had finished setting up.

"I understand where you are coming from, but I'm not training them to be marines. I want something more for them, which is why I kept what Logan said in mind or try to at all times. He told me they aren't marines, they are just kids. Can you honestly say that you want them to be more like us, between the two of us, we are lucky to average a combined total of 12 hours of sleep a night?" Brandon retorted as his friend listened to what he was saying carefully.

"That's true, they aren't marines, and when I look at them I don't see kids though. I still think that they should be further along in their hand to hand though, you could at least toughen up in that area. Have to agree with you on that last part though; I don't want any of them being like us. We have to carry burdens that well; I can't say I want any of them to carry." Alan spoke as the two bowed their head slightly in response to what had been said.

Beast had no choice to interrupt the two as he coughed once before speaking, "Excuse me, do you two think you could give me a hand with some of this equipment. The setup for the holding cells is proceeding much slower than I expected."

"Sure, anything to keep us busy. I really don't want to think so much about the mission on the way there." Alan replied as he walked over to the holding cells, Brandon following him.

The two looked at the cells with curiosity in their eyes; they were silver cylinder like objects for the most part. The top and bottom part both had emitters on them to create the energy prison that would be used to keep the Brotherhood in line during the trip home. As Beast started to hand out directions, the two followed them starting to slowly assemble the holding cells.

Back in the front of the Blackbird, a group of nervous New Mutants talked quietly among each other. Fact was that not a single one of them was managing to get any sleep, and the only person that seemed asleep was Leah. Truth was that everyone was awake as everyone seemed to look at Leah; she was an island of tranquility in a sea of chaos. Leah grunted loudly, she could feel everyone watching or looking at her and it was well disconcerting to say the least for her. She opened her eyes slowly, turning her head some what so she could get a good look at Amara.

'Why did he choose her, why am I still so mad about what he said a few days ago. I did such a good job covering up, so why am I so, so jealous of her. It's just not fair, and I can't even bring myself to talk with any of them right now. I managed to cover it up for so long, and all this staring and the mission are really making me nervous. I need to focus, I just damn it…' Leah thought as she finally stopped thinking about the situation.

"What are all of you looking at, it's impolite to stare or did your parents not teach you that?" Leah barked as all of them turned their heads away from her quickly, none of them had meant to anger her.

Dani was the first to speak, "We didn't mean to anger you Leah, and it's just that you are so calm. If you haven't notice most of us are all over the place with the exception of X-23, who is literally spending the whole time thinking about something."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to jump down your throats. It's just that well," Leah began as she bowed her head slightly. "I've had a lot to think about lately and well this mission is even unnerving to someone like me."

"Its okay, do you want to talk about it?" Jubilee asked attempting to use this as a way to take her mind off of the mission.

"No thanks, I don't feel comfortable talking about personal things. If it makes you all feel any better though, I felt the exact same way on my first major mission. I was a mess and for a marine, that's not exactly a good thing." Leah answered quickly, this mission was giving her the jitters and she really didn't feel like talking.

Amara meanwhile had tried to go to sleep only to discover that she was too nervous to do so. Normally she would have went to sleep shortly after the flight had began, but this time she just couldn't sleep and she felt sick to her stomach. She looked around for Brandon, but his seat was empty as was Alan's seat. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down; she knew he would be back sooner rather than later.

'Those two must have gone to the back to work on something; I hope everything goes well on this mission. I don't want anything bad to happen especially to Brandon, I really wish he would come back up here and sit down, but I guess this has to be important. He wouldn't leave me here if it wasn't.' Amara thought as she waited patiently for her boyfriend to get back to his seat.

"Hey Mara, you okay? You aren't feeling sick again, I swear you just can't stand planes or boats." Tabby asked as she looked at her friend.

"Yeah I know, every time without fail this happens. I can't go to sleep this time though; I'm just so nervous and well anxious about this mission." Amara began as she looked around the plane. "So is everyone else though, I would feel a little better if Brandon was sitting here like he normally would though. If you ask me he's more nervous about this mission than we are though."

"Why do you think that he's more nervous than we are?" Tabby questioned as Amara gave a faint smile to her question.

Her smile disappeared before she answered the question, "It's difficult to explain, I don't even understand it completely. Just that he's sees this something more than a rescue mission. I'm sure he'll be fine once the mission starts though, he's been spending a lot of time training for it."

"I wonder what kind of mission this is for him then, it has to be something to him." Jubilee interrupted as Leah coughed slightly, the three turning to look at her.

"I'm sure everything will be fine, Brandon and Major Fitzgerald have more combat experience than I do. The major actually has been on more battlefields than anyone else I know of, it's a shame Johnson isn't here. He would be able to tell you some great stories to help keep your mind off things." Leah replied as she quickly noticed the two standing in the door listening.

What the group didn't realize was that Brandon and Alan both had finished helping Beast early. The two were just standing there in the doorway between the two parts of the Blackbird listening to the conversation that was happening. Both of them just stood there listening, they didn't want to interrupt them just yet. The mention of Johnson however had caused their faces to change to a very sad and somber expression.

"Johnson, he was a good friend and he was even a brother to both of us. You know what we have to do right, first and foremost is our mission to rescue the Brotherhood. There is another objective, but I'm certain that I don't have to tell you what I expect right." Brandon whispered back as the two had remained silent with the exception of the words between the two of them.

Alan smiled softly before replying, "I know exactly what you mean, I thought you would want to do something like that so I packed something special just for such an occasion. She's right about Johnson though; I got to admit I miss him a lot. In fact Hammer only agreed to help out because he wants to avenge him."

"I figured as much, he didn't really care much for me as a person, but Johnson did save his life. My friends are getting really restless though, I guess its time for me to give them a speech about the situation. The closer we get to the operation time, the more on edge everyone seems to get. A damn shame that it's taking almost an entire day to get us there and then we still have to incorporate those two's intelligence report." Brandon softly spoke as he looked over the New Mutants.

"Definitely time for that, I can't say I blame them though. Even I'm a little nervous about this one, this could turn into one hell of a firefight. This is a damn gutsy move; I have a bit more respect for Xavier now. Takes balls to make a move like this without having absolute intelligence on the enemy." Alan whispered after he had looked over the troops so to speak.

'There scared, nervous, and probably anxious as well but that story certainly helped put them at ease, I should thank Leah for that. Unlike the X-men, they don't have the experience and well that makes things that much harder on someone. Leah is acting like the usual stone of tranquility, but I can see it on everyone else's face now that the story is over. Amara normally would have gone to sleep by now, but she's so nervous that she has stayed awake the entire time. I have to say something to them; damn I could really use something inspirational right now. They might not realize it but Alan and Leah despite their calm demeanors are also anxious about this one, and well I am too.' Brandon thought as he just stood their looking over everyone.

It was a cold piercing silence as the two retook their seats in the front. Alan merely closed his eyes, while the New Mutants seemed to just look at each other. It was an eerie silence, and for the most part the longer something went unsaid the more unnerving things became. For the most part the New Mutants seemed to watch Alan and Leah with awe as the two seemed completely unaffected by the situation.

"Storm, how long do we have until we arrive at the landing point?" Brandon asked he rarely used that name unless it was on a mission.

"Well if we continue at this pace we should arrive in about a hour." she answered as he just sat there for a moment.

"Okay everyone, listen up." Brandon started as he watched everyone turn to look at him, all of them listening to him. "This is a big mission, and I know exactly how you feel. You are scared and nervous about the mission, you've never been sent on a mission like this before where we are practically guaranteed a nasty battle. However, that is all completely natural considering the situation."

"Do you really think we can handle a situation like this?" Jaime asked as he waited patiently for answer.

"I mean look at those two, they aren't even fazed by this whole thing. It's almost like its no big deal, and well how are we going to…" Dani stated as she pointed at Alan and Leah, not giving Brandon the chance to answer Jaime's question.

Leah coughed slightly before responding, "Please don't compare us to you, while we might not show it, we are just as nervous as you are. You can be nervous, but what matters are that when the time comes you are prepared to fulfill your duty to your teammates, and to the mission."

"That's partially true, but I would rather have all of you alive with the mission as a failure than to have one of you gone and the mission a success. You are scared and nervous and that is as I said earlier completely understandable, you see if you weren't nervous and scared I wouldn't want to fight with you. People that actually want to fight when they are green like you guys are the ones that end up in a world of pain or worse dead. You guys are smart, strong, and trained by some of the best. More importantly I believe that you can handle this, if I didn't well you wouldn't be here. You would be back at the Institute wishing that you had gotten the chance to come along." Brandon answered as he gave them all a smile, he was trying to encourage them and get their morale up.

Jubilee was the next to speak, "Yeah we can handle this, all that time learning hand to hand with Brandon. We survived all of those crazy danger room sessions with Logan and Brandon. If the X-men could handle missions kind of like this back then when they were our age, then it stands to reason that we can too. Not to mention we held our own against Mystique, and with Odin's help we held our own against Reaper."

"Then let's show them what we can do. We got to get them back for attacking the Institute any way, and trying to hurt our friends." Tabby replied as Brandon and Alan started to smile, if your team was in had high moral; it really helped out on missions.

"Good then the following people suit up in full battle gear, this time you're wearing the armored uniforms. According to the Professor the following individuals will be joining the rescue teams Jubilee, Boom-Boom, Cannonball, Berserker, Wolfsbane, Dani, and Multiple. Sunspot, Paige, and Noriko are going to be protecting the Professor since he will be remaining with the aircraft. You'll be given your other equipment after we land." Brandon started as all of them nodded in agreement.

"Hey Odin, you didn't give Magma or X-23 a task yet?" Boom-Boom asked wondering why her best friend hadn't been given an assignment like her.

"Don't worry kid; those two got a special mission with Odin and me. We're going to make things easier on you guys to get those guys out of there. It's going to be like old times, raising hell in enemy territory and making them look like a bunch of asses. I can't wait; this is going to be fun. Nothing like the potential for a good battle always gets my blood pumping." Alan answered as Brandon nodded to him in agreement.

"Okay, hey Brandon, look out for my girl though." she replied as he watched all of the girls with the exception of Amara go to the back and change since there was some privacy there.

"What are you up to, am I not going on this mission with the others?" X-23 demanded as Alan scratched his head slightly.

"We choose you to come with us as well; your fighting style is better suited with us than the others so to speak. Not to mention that you're enhanced senses will come in handy in there. You got a problem with that?" Alan asked as she accepted his reasoning relatively quickly.

"No, I can handle whatever you have in mind." X-23 growled as she looked over at Brandon and Amara. "You sure it's a good idea to have you two on the same team."

"It won't be a problem; I understand your concerns though. That kind of thing would be worse if she was on another team though. I wouldn't be able to focus properly or act as the mission commander wanted me too." Brandon replied as they heard a loud thud come from the back.

Amara stood there for a moment taking in what had been said before replying, "Brandon, are you sure that I can…"

"Yeah, I want you close by so we can well...I guess the best way to say it is look after each other. Just don't want to be very far away from you and well..." Brandon stated as he looked down at the floor of the plane.

Brandon and Amara seemed to share a glance as he walked over to her. The two hugged each other as Alan and X-23 seemed to turn their heads away from the scene for a moment. It was a nice reassuring feeling for the two until someone started coughing and interrupted their nice moment. Alan stood there looking at them while faking his cough until both of them looked over at him.

"Ah young love, this is such a nice scene, and I hate to ruin it and all but we got asses to kick. You two have to get ready, and we can't have you both standing there like two awkward love struck teenagers now can we." Alan commented as the two both turned their heads and look at him.

"Thanks for ruining a good moment Alan." Brandon said sarcastically as the man merely shrugged in response.

"That reminds me Odin," Alan continued as he had gotten their attention. "Command of this mission is yours; just remember that I expect to get everyone back. All in, all out, that's the rule remember."

"I'm no officer Alan, you…" Brandon started as Amara interrupted him.

"You'll do just fine; we have faith in you to. Otherwise I doubt Alan would be giving you command right?" Amara stated as Alan looked at her surprised by the comment.

"That's right, and I think the Professor would be more at ease with you in charge of us. Besides if he tried to ask us to follow someone with the exception of Wolverine, I would probably have to decline especially if it is Cyclops. You're the best person for this job any way; you got the experience and tactical expertise. Now I got to run, as soon as the girls finish changing, I got to get the equipment ready." Alan spoke giving a reassuring smile before walking over to the door and waiting for all of the girls to finish changing.

Shortly after everyone had finished changing, both aircraft had arrived at their destination. The landing area that the Professor had selected was about five miles away from the base. It was literally all plains with the exception of a small forest and a few steep hills close by to the landing site. It was very quiet in the landing site which had a couple of tents that had been knocked down by the arrival of the aircraft. Logan was surprised to find two individuals standing not far away from the landing site seemingly waiting for their arrival as everyone disembarked from the aircraft with the exception of Beast.

"Yo boss man, it's a good to see ya again. Good to see ya to little general, been a while since Ah've seen ya after all." Cutter yelled as everyone turned to see two men walking toward them in military uniforms.

"What kept you? Give Brandon or little general as you call him the information and then I want the two of you to report to the Blackbird and suit up for the mission." Alan barked as he looked at the man. "Keep your damn voice down to; we don't want them to hear us coming."

Cutter handed Brandon a map and blueprint before speaking, "Ah would love to, but Ah need to hear Xavier's plan first. Their might be a small hitch in the plan if they intend to go through the western plains. Got to say though, Ah so look forward to workin with all of these lovely ladies."

"Well it could have been worse; we would have him hitting on every girl if we had let him fly here with us. Granted I might tie him to the wing of the Blackbird if we get out of this in one piece, the guy is going to drive people crazy." Brandon whispered as Alan nodded in agreement before Brandon started to speak louder. "Okay Cutter and I will give this to the Professor, Alan I want everyone ready to go ASAP. Magma and X-23 are already changed and ready, so you got the plane to yourself to pick out the right equipment."

"Right, I'll handle it. Got to set up a few surprises any way, this should be interesting provided it works." Alan spoke as he walked back to the plane motioning for the taller man and Leah to join him.

Brandon and Cutter walked over to the Professor, who was meeting with Wolverine and Cyclops regarding the mission. They had set up a small table while looking at some images of the base when the two interrupted them. Unrolling the blueprint, the five crowded around the table looking at the base layout. It was a simple design really; it had a lower and upper level with a couple of dozen rooms. Odin made special note of places labeled armory, control room, hanger, and a large unlabeled room in his head.

"Well it's a real pleasure meeting yall. Name's Cutter and the big fellua is Hammer. We are members of Alan's team; we made sure ta have this ready for ya. We got one helluva big problem though." Cutter stated as Cyclops looked at the man curiously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Cutter," the Professor said hesitantly, he was a little surprised by the name the man had used. "I assume you have a good idea of what we are trying to do."

"Yep, Ah got a good idea, but here's the problem prof. Ah'm bettin you wanted to break in here at this lowland area here." Cutter stated as he pointed at the western part of the base on the map. "It seems that the boss of this place expected an attack from there, and well unless ya want ta draw attention or want ta lose a few limbs its not a place ya want ta go."

Logan caught on to what he was saying, translating it for the others. "So, they got landmines set up there, tricky bastards."

"Yep, Ah've got ta admit it surprised us to learn about it too. If it hadn't been for the big fellua, Ah would have lost a limb or too. Ah can say that is the only place of imminent danger though. Ah do have an idea though; ya see this place here on the southern part of the base. It's a loading dock, because of its functions; it has a low level of security. Security only sweeps through about twice an hour so believe mae when Ah say infiltration wont be that hard, Ah haven't even seen security cameras on the perimeter. Should be like eatin a piece of my momma's peach pie to get in." Cutter spoke as Brandon shook his head in agreement.

"Logan, what do you think?" Professor Xavier said as the man looked over the map.

"I agree with him, it's our best bet to get in and out without being noticed if that's possible. I'm expecting a real fight on this one Chuck." Logan answered as the Professor seemed to close his eyes in deep thought.

"Odin, I want your team to go in first, because your team seems better suited to what we have in mind. I want you to infiltrate the facility and knock out the internal security system. Your team is better suited for this since it has more specialized training, and most of your members have training in heavy combat. After you handle that, you can monitor the situation and provide back up for the other two teams if necessary. Do you think you can handle that with the personnel that you and Alan have selected?" Xavier asked as Brandon added up the time in his head.

"Hmm, shouldn't be a problem for us to infiltrate this place. Here's the path I think we'll take, but I want to go over it with Alan before we move out." Odin started as he was handed a pencil and drew his route onto the map. They would head south before wrapping around and infiltrating the dock. "Once we get there, at the most it will take 10 minutes for us to get in and start disabling the security. The only problem may be with dealing with the computer system that controls the internal security system. Leah is very good with computers, but if she can't handle the computer system well, I don't know what we will do."

"That's a good path, but shouldn't you vary your movements more in case they do manage to find you." Cyclops recommended as Odin looked at the path that he had outlined.

"Normally I would agree with you Cyclops, but I'm sacrificing that for speed. I need my team to get to the target and infiltrate faster to give you guys more time. In all honesty though, I have a very good team so unless we get ambushed by Reaper, the Master, and a couple hundred men, I'm not that worried about it." Odin replied as both of them were distracted by Cutter and his flirting.

"Ooh, who's the red headed girl, she's kinda cute. Ah wouldn't mind bein introduce ta her. Ya know what they say about red…" Cutter commented as he received a smack on the head from Brandon, Brandon hadn't even looked up before smacking him like that so he couldn't finish.

Everyone looked up to see Wolfsbane standing there nervously, and she seemed to get even more nervous at the gaze from the unknown man. Looking up to see who it was Cutter received two more smacks on the head followed by an elbow into the gut for his actions. Shaking his head, Wolverine couldn't help but let out a low chuckle. He was about to scare the man to death if it was possible and Odin had already beaten him to the punch.

"Ouch, what the hell are ya doin little general. Ah'm on your side rememba?" Cutter stated his southern accent coming through as he used his right hand to rub his stomach.

"We're on a mission; you can worry about flirting later. Not to mention Wolfsbane is a minor and I will personally vaporize you if you try anything with anyone under the age of 18. Scratch that, even if they are over 18 I still might blast you. Do you understand me marine?" Odin bellowed as Cutter saluted instantly upon hearing the anger in his friend's voice.

"Ah you are no fun little general, Ah guess Ah'll have to let it go though, sorrae about that Wolfsbane. Prof, Ah'm sorrae about that, Ah tend to be a little, oh damn it, what's the word for it, eccentric. Ah'm gonna go get ready, sorrae again ma'am." Cutter answered as he left the area very quickly to get ready and he was also hoping to avoid any more punishments from his friend.

Odin seemed to shake his head a little before speaking, "Sorry about that Professor, the problem with the best marines is the fact that they tend to be very eccentric or borderline insane. They have the oddest personalities known to man, but deep down most of them are good people. I can count on all of the ones here with my life, but don't worry I'll be having a long talk with Cutter on the way back."

"It's fine, just as long as he doesn't make any of the female students uncomfortable. Could you please talk to him in more detail about that later, for now we should get back to planning unless Wolfsbane has something that she needs to add." Professor Xavier said as he looked over at the nervous girl.

"Ah just wanted to tell Odin, that Alan has finished his preparations and is ready to move out." Wolfsbane spoke as she ran off to handle other issues before he could respond.

"Marine, you think that you and your friends could make a distraction for us? That would make getting the Brotherhood out of there easier for us also. We could also trade out Shadowcat for Leah since she has a lot of expertise with computers." Wolverine growled, he was thinking tactically about the situation.

Odin seemed to think for a moment before replying, "Hmm, believe me Alan has caused a distraction with nothing but a piece of tin foil and some pliers. I don't think that will be a problem provided you like your distractions a bit more fiery than usual. He's very creative in that aspect, so be prepared for something off the wall if you need it. Hmm well Leah will follow orders, but I think you might need Shadowcat breaking out our targets more than I will need her computer skills."

"Very well then, this is how we are going to proceed with the mission. Cyclops and Wolverine will both lead teams of five while the others remain close by to aide them if necessary. There are two levels, and both have holding cells so Cyclops team will handle the first level and Wolverine the second level. We'll have to search both levels since we don't know which level the Brotherhood is being held on. Odin your team will monitor and provide computer support or backup as necessary for the other teams." Professor Xavier stated as they still had a lot of time before the operation started.

"Okay so who is going to be on my team Professor?" Cyclops asked as he waited to find out the personnel assigned to him.

"Cyclops, your team will be Jean, Iceman, Jubilee and Colossus. Wolverine you'll have Shadowcat, Nightcrawler, Forge, Multiple and Cannonball, since you have to go further, you might need some additional help. Forge has made his own improvements to a tranquilizer gun, that he will be using, Wolverine, but if that fails be prepared to do something else to catch them. Beast will be staying here to prepare the cells for those captured and to take care of all injuries." Professor Xavier started as something else came to mind. "I will be keeping Paige, Sunspot, and Noriko here with me to protect me while I use my own powers to protect you from the Master's own telepathic abilities. I'll be keeping a close eye on things in case he does show up so I'll be ready to lend a helping hand as well. Everyone else will remain close by under Storm's command."

"Sounds simple enough, the more complicated a plan gets the easier it is to screw something up." Wolverine growled as everyone looked down at the blueprint again.

"I know this doesn't need to be said, but remember our objective is to capture the Brotherhood unharmed if possible. Defend yourselves if you are attacked, but do not actively seek out opponents, that could tip our hand prematurely to the Master and his team so to speak. We must keep the fact that we have the element of surprise for as long as possible." Professor Xavier spoke as he looked directly at Odin when he spoke, as if he was directing the comment specifically at him and his team.

Odin stood there for a moment before speaking, "I understand, personal vendettas aside, I will not risk the lives of my team or the mission just to settle a grudge that I have. You have my word that I will not actively seek out Reaper; however, if he finds me I will not hesitate to fight him with everything that I have. If you would excuse me, I have to finish preparations with my team."

Odin bowed his head slightly before leaving the group alone, walking slowly back over to the Blackbird. Alan had finished handing out of all the non lethal weapons and was now setting up his own special equipment as he called it. Outfitted with a rifle that fired tranquilizer darts and his new modified gun, he also carried his usual pack, which was where he kept his other surprises. The others with the exception of Magma and X-23 had taken up similar armaments, but each had also taken the time to customize their packs with their own surprises.

"Back from the meeting, I assume that he still wants to do this thing." Alan spoke as Hammer picked up the rest of his equipment; his weapons were specifically designed for his much larger hands.

"Yeah since I know Cutter has probably explained our mission to you already, are you all ready to go? Also from this point on, it would be best to use my codename and the others codenames. Alan, I'll just use your and Leah's first name since you don't have nicknames like Hammer or Cutter that are really short." Odin asked as he made sure that he had everything that he had needed for the mission.

Hammer to everyone's surprise was the next to speak, "I have finished the tradition, and we can leave now. We have all written letters except Brandon, and the two young ones."

"Good last thing we need to do is put a jinx on the mission, oh yeah just so you two know," Leah started as she turned to address Magma and X-23, "Hammer here doesn't talk much so if he does say something, be sure to pay close attention to it. He may not look it, but he's actually the oldest marine here, and he's has a lot of combat experience."

"Okay I understand, is there anything that the two of us can do to help make your trip easier?" Magma asked as she noticed Odin had picked up a rather light pack while the two of them hadn't been asked to carry anything.

"Mighty kind of ya to ask darlin, but that's not necessary. We can't have the little general's girlfriend carrying anything. Too bad you're taken, ya got a nice…" Cutter spoke before getting smacked hard by Leah.

"The only thing I can't stand more than what happened about a certain situation is you Cutter. Would you leave her alone, she's taken. If Odin didn't need you, he would probably blast you." Leah replied coldly as Cutter started to laugh in response.

"Oh come on the little general and Ah are good friends. Ah was just teasin her a little that's all, nothin but some good natured ribbin. Ah mean Odin doesn't look to mad," Cutter started as Odin and Magma were just looking at each other. "You're just mad because ya still an ice queen. Maybe if ya weren't so cold and admitted it things would have turned out differently."

Amara and X-23 were both surprised that the two were getting ready to fight each other when Alan coughed twice. While Magma and X-23 considered this strange behavior, it was how the two normally acted around each other. Odin on the other hand was ignoring the situation hoping the two would work out before it was time to go. He had been busy thinking about the mission and well he didn't have time for this.

"Don't worry about those two; this is how they normally act around each other. Once the mission gets started they'll stop this right away. Fact is they only tease each other and mess with each other like this because they are friends." Alan whispered as Magma and X-23 nodded in understanding.

"Okay that's enough; let's move out, I want to get this done as quickly as possible. Remember the longer we have the element of surprise the better this battle will go." Brandon started as everyone listened to him carefully. "Alan you got point, Hammer bring up the rear. Let's get this over with; I'm actually eager to end this one as quickly as possible. The shorter this mission is the more favorable it is to our side, and we have a five mile jog ahead of us."

"Ah man you mean we got ta jog, give mae a break little general. Ah don't want ta smell like sweat when we ride back with yall. Ah guess Ah could always sit next to Leah, she could use some company." Cutter replied as he was already planning on some future fun.

"Cutter you stupid pervert, if I had my way we would toss your ass out of the Blackbird at 30000 feet without a parachute." Leah replied as the two started to chuckle slightly.

"Okay enough fun, let's go." Odin spoke as he checked his equipment one last time before breaking out in a slow jog.

Next Chapter: Heroic Resolve part 1

Odin's team begins to infiltrate the Master's base while Wolverine and Cyclops stand by with two other teams. Time is of the essence as Xavier makes his move to free the Brotherhood.


	29. Heroic Resolve Part 1

**Author's Notes: Oh man has it been a really long time since I've actually posted an update. I guess I'm really busy with things lately. Any way enjoy the new chapter; hope it lives up to expectations. Considering how many times I've rewritten, I think this is the best I can do for the time being. Well take it easy and enjoy. **

Magma took a deep breath as the group she was with finally stopped moving, ahead of her was Odin and Alan scouting ahead. Motioning them to move forward, the group easily evaded another group of guards making routine patrols. Stopping momentarily to check their position, the group had finally found the place that they were going to use as their entrance so to speak. On the corner a security camera scanned by as the group looked at the grey colored building. It was a massive building as Alan made a small comment about it being built by the same guys that build all military bases.

"Security here is absolutely pathetic Odin; I could have easily made it in here alone. This is a joke; I expected so much more from these jackasses. If this is all we are going to have to deal with, I might have well snuck in here with an entire division of marines with me. " Alan commented as he looked down towards the end of the group.

"Yeah this is just a little too easy, but let's not place a damn hex on the whole operation." Odin started as he pulled out a palm pilot and looked at the information on it. "Our entrance is right there and the operation center for this place is about half a click down the hallway."

Cutter coughed slightly before speaking, "Ah don't mean to disturb ya, but we have ta get movin. Ah don't want ta get busted commentin on crap ass security while those guards run their routes."

Nodding slightly the two started moving the group slowly making their way to their first goal. They had been lucky to begin with since the Master and his group seemed to be preparing for a major operation and the area was filled with trucks and other objects to use for cover. Moving behind a large transport used to carry troops, Alan pulled out a pair of binoculars searching the area ahead of them for any trouble.

"All clear," Alan whispered as the group started moving again, they were moving incredibly fast without taking very many breaks.

'I never knew how athletic and in shape they are, and they are even carrying all of that gear. I'm tired and they barely look like they are breaking a sweat, even Brandon looks like he has barely done a thing. Not to mention they all look like they are wearing such heavy gear.' Magma thought panting some as the others looked over towards her.

"You okay princess?" Alan asked softly as she merely nodded in response.

Magma looked at Alan carefully, the man was wearing a set of armor a lot like their own except it was a grayish camouflage color. The only unusual thing about his armor was the fact he was wearing grenades and other items on a belt across his chest. He was also wearing a small helmet with a visor pulled down across his eyes and almost every other marine member with the exception of Hammer was wearing the same thing. Even with what appeared to be heavy armor and a pack that definitely weighed a lot, the group of marines managed to continually stay on the move.

"Ah know your tired princess, and the little general is pushin us hard. Ya can rest some once we get to the operations center." Cutter replied as Odin sighed for a moment.

"Sorry Magma, but we have to move again. Okay plan 2 Alpha, begin infiltration." Odin commanded as the group merely nodded and the four marines fanning out to carry out their orders.

'Here we go, if we can pull this off then things will be a lot easier later on in the mission.' Odin thought as Alan and Hammer ran up to the loading docks doors and pulled up the manual override levers to open the door.

"Cutter, Leah move into position." Odin stated as the two took up positions facing the door readying their weapons.

Alan and Hammer opened the door slowly, first just a crack so Leah and Cutter could peak into the area. They opened the door further when the two gave the all clear sign, opening it far enough to the point where the group could slide into the room. Taking off their packs, Odin slid in first with Alan not to far behind him. Magma and Leah entered last as Hammer slowly pushed the loading dock door back down to its closed position.

'Great we're in, now here comes the fun part. Infiltration and hopefully elimination or…' Alan thought as he scanned the room quickly with his weapon.

"Security camera northwest corner," Leah commented softly as Cutter pulled out an unusual looking weapon.

"That's mae cue, Ah brought the perfect item to deal with somethin like this." Cutter started as he loaded the weapon, placing a large arrow like weapon on it. "Standby, this should definitely be a nice surprise for the guys watchin on the monitors."

Aiming carefully, Cutter fired the arrow into the wall to the left of the camera and out of its line of sight. Pressing a button carefully, the arrow sent a pulse of electricity through the wall causing the camera to short circuit as sparks flew from the camera. Waving his hand out in front of the camera, Cutter merely smiled as he motioned for them to continue moving.

"That was easy; we have one narrow hallway followed by a larger unmarked room before arriving in our destination." Odin stated as he motioned for everyone to follow him to the door that lead into the hallway.

Alan grunted softly before speaking, "Maybe, but this has been way too easy this far. Let's keep moving, now isn't the time to worry about anything."

"Wait, I smell something familiar to me in this room." X-23 started as she sniffed the room slightly. "Gauntlet and Omega Red are here."

"What are you sure?" Odin asked as his eyes flashed slightly in surprise.

"I wouldn't have said so if I wasn't sure. They are definitely here somewhere close by, I can't wait to…" X-23 started as Hammer placed his large gloved hand on her shoulder.

"Hold your anger and desire for revenge, the mission comes first young one." Hammer spoke as the others nodded in agreement.

"Fine." X-23 mouthed a little upset with the response as Alan opened the door and used his newest toy so to speak.

"My new helmet is linked to my new rifle's scope; I can see whatever my scope sees on the HUD in my helmet. The boys at R and D have really been working their asses off on this new tech." Alan muttered as he moved his rifle around, checking to make sure the entire hallway was clear of enemy units. "Nothing there, we're clear to move on Odin. These little bastards couldn't guard a Quickie Mart."

"Good after the hallway we search the room and then head straight for the objective. Keep your eyes open people; we don't know what will be between here and there." Odin replied as the others nodded in agreement with the statement.

Moving into the hallway, Alan went first leading the way as the others followed behind him. They quickly went through the area, not noticing one guard or even automated opposition. Stopping at the door that lead to the next area, Alan motioned for Cutter again as he pointed towards a simple security system that required you to enter the proper number sequence to open the door. Cutter merely smiled before going to work his eyes going wide before just pushing the door open.

"Ah've got to say this is bad, Ah think they are expectin us little general with the lights off this is a good place to put a trap or maybe a surprise blanket party." Cutter whispered as Odin nodded in agreement.

"Keep your eyes open, something is definitely up." Odin replied as he walked into the room, the others slowly following him.

Leah's eyes narrowed as she pulled her weapon closer and started to scan the room before speaking, "Clear so far, no movement detected."

"Hmm, my side is clear as well. No movement or enemy units detected." Hammer succinctly spoke as he looked around the room.

"I… get down." Alan bellowed as he grabbed Magma and pulled them both out of the way of a sword slash.

The lights flashed on as Alan pulled Magma behind him and grinned upon seeing someone he had literally been itching to fight. Standing there along with a squad or two of guards was Deadpool, and he had clearly not been expecting company. Brandishing his sword with no wasted movement Alan pushed Magma out of the way blocking the attack with his tranquilizer gun.

"Well if it isn't the devil puppy, what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Hope it isn't poker games or chow because these guys lost all their money to me. Food sucks to now that I think about it." Deadpool taunted as he and Alan jockeyed for position.

"I was hoping to run into you, I was hoping for later but hell; guess it's too late for that now." Alan started as he quickly pushed the sword up and kicked Deadpool away. "First though time to deal with your numerical advantage."

Deadpool slashed vertically with his sword while Alan just dove under it and fired his tranquilizer gun knocking out two men quickly. Hammer, Cutter, and Leah took advantage of the distraction opening fire on the other guards until only one man remained. Deadpool stood there slashing at Alan as he continued to dodge his attacks.

Alan blocked another attack before speaking, "I've been looking forward to this, hell it's been the reason I've actually pushed my training to an entire new level."

"Come on little devil doggy, you could never be on the same level as I am. I mean hell you're just human, what could you possibly do to someone like me." Deadpool taunted as he attacked again, this time the tranquilizer gun began to crack from the pressure from the sword.

Sparks flew as Alan pushed his weapon forward and drove the butt of the weapon right into Deadpool's gut. A gasp could be heard as all of the air was knocked out of his lungs, but it was only momentary as he nailed Alan with his left fist. Falling back slightly, Alan tossed the weapon away and reached down to the pockets on his uniform pulling out two oddly colored KABAR knives.

Deadpool merely charged forward while sarcastically yelling, "Ooh knives, I'm so scared oh please don't stab me. I'm so fragile and hurt so easily."

'Only human huh, guess its time to show what a lowly human can do. Fragile and weak is one thing I'm definitely not and I can hang with the best of them. Now its time to show what I can really do, I hope your watching Brandon, this is my true strength. This is why I'll always be able to follow you no matter where you go.' Alan thought as he started to run towards Deadpool.

"Sure you are, I'm tired of talking with you though. I'll let my skills do my talking for me." Alan replied as he carefully dodged the slashing of the sword.

Alan took his opening that Deadpool left quickly stabbing the man repeatedly with the two knives before the man whipped around attempting to cut him in half. The wide sweeping motion of the sword left Deadpool open again or so Alan thought as he went to stab again only to receive a hard hook to his jaw.

Alan stepped back rubbing his jaw before speaking, "Odin no matter what happens, no one interferes unless I tell them to understand. This is personal and we aren't going any where until this is taken care of and I intend to finish this."

"Sure," Odin replied as Magma looked at him with concern on her face.

"Do you think that letting him do this is the best move?" Magma asked as Alan slashed at Deadpool methodically; the two were literally trading turns slashing at each other.

Odin watched as Deadpool thrust his sword forward and grazing Alan's left shoulder before answering, "This is his fight, we don't have a right to intervene. Besides I'm kind of interested to see what he can really do, I've never seen Alan go all out on anyone. We can't go anywhere any way because if we try to leave we would either have to fight Deadpool or have to worry about him sounding the alarm. This is inevitable, but definitely slowing us down a lot."

The two fighters seemed to back down away from each other as Alan pulled at two straps on his pack causing it to fall to the ground. Stretching slightly Alan tilted his head and merely grabbed his new weapon and slung it across his back. Taking off his helmet, Alan tossed it on the ground beside his pack and his final move was taking off the belt with his grenades attached to it.

"What's the matter devil doggy, too much weight for you? Maybe your out of shape and need Slim fast or something." Deadpool taunted as Alan merely shook his head no.

Alan grunted as he took a basic fighting stance before answering, "Actually I'm getting serious. I just dropped about 100 pounds of equipment, you do the math."

X-23 was slightly surprised when Alan took off; he was much faster then he had been before dropping the weight. He easily dodged attacks and retaliated with his own quick stabbing motions. The wounds were small, but he was moving much faster then Deadpool could keep up. The wounds began to heal however as Alan stopped to take a breath and to recover his strength.

'He's tired, but I wonder why he's using knives. That's normally not his style, he's up to something. I just don't know what it is and he's left himself at a distinct disadvantage now. I might have to step in even if he doesn't want me too.' Odin thought as almost all of the wounds had been healed.

"Man you should be an acupuncturist or some shit like that, I didn't feel a damn thing other then an annoying guy stinging me." Deadpool spoke as he decided to launch his counter attacks.

Deadpool brought his sword down aiming to cut off Alan's left arm only to have the knife in Alan's left arm block him. Sparks flew as the knife held back the sword as Deadpool attempted to force the sword down. The two stood there grappling with each other when Deadpool jumped back right when he was starting to force the knife in Alan's left hand down. The merc with a mouth just looked down at something and shrugged before sheathing his sword.

"Hey devil doggy, this has been real fun but I got to run. Nothing personal, but I don't waste time when it comes to making money and women. I barely won enough money off these guys to pay my bar tab. We'll play again later." Deadpool commented as he pulled out his teleportation unit and disappeared.

'This doesn't make sense he was winning and then he just backed off. What the hell is going on?' Alan thought as he put away his knives and walked slowly over to his equipment.

Strapping his equipment back on Alan merely glared unsatisfied with the situation. The others looked at him slightly concerned as he rejoined the others. Leah walked over to him slowly, checking his left shoulder and slapping a bandage over it when she noticed a little blood. Moving over to check his friend, Alan merely shook his head no and put his right hand up in the form of a stop sign.

"I'm fine; it's just a little flesh wound. Nothing more then that, so lets move on this has taken up enough time." Alan stated an angry disappointed tone apparent in his voice.

"Right let's go, this detour is over." Odin barked as everyone started to move in formation again across the room and towards the correct door.

Acting in the same manner as before, Alan scanned the area before giving the signal and moving into the hallway. The group moved fast, passing a few doors before finally arriving at a dimly lit hallway. Directly in front of them was the operations center and to the left the armory. On the right was the unmarked room that had been noted earlier. Motioning to X-23, she merely smiled as her claws slid out. Slicing through the door as if it was butter, the group quickly moved inside the room. A few small pops were heard as Hammer, Cutter and Leah fired tranquilizer darts into three of the men while Alan knocked his out with the butt of his rifle.

"Whoa, you guys move so fast." Magma commented as she watched the four marines moving into various positions.

"That's how they do things, Leah get to work on the computer. Hammer, Cutter, Alan, and X-23 secure the perimeter. Magma, watch Leah's back so no one targets her." Odin ordered as everyone started to carry out his orders.

Leah ran over to the computer, tossing a slumped over guard off of the rather large keyboard. It was an awe aspiring system to say the least made up of at least 20 security monitors and one large Cray super computer. Amara watched with interest as Leah started typing pulling up one program after another before letting out a celebratory oorah. The system had been unsecured and that meant she wouldn't have to test her computer skills by hacking the system.

"Well the good news is that they didn't have time to lock down the system. I'm going to try and disable the security now." Leah spoke as she typed a few key commands into the computer. "External and internal security disabled, looping camera footage so if there are any other monitors they wont think anything is wrong."

"Not bad, bring up all barrack locations on the computer." Odin commanded as Leah typed in a few commands bringing up a map with a few locations highlighted.

Alan smiled knowing where he was going speaking, "Bring up those barracks on the main monitor, I want to know how many people are there right now."

"Right, I think I know where you are going." Leah started as she brought up the image on the monitor. "Hmm, seems a lot of the guards are inside them right now."

"Seems we still have the element of surprise, but I don't know how long that will last. I don't know how long Deadpool since I have no idea where he is right now. Leah, can you unlock the doors that are in the way of the other teams from here?" Odin asked as Leah put more information into the computer.

"I could do that in about two or three minutes if things go smoothly." Leah stated as she waited patiently for the order.

"Okay, unlock all doors in regards to Cyclops and Wolverine teams' way. After that I'll inform the Professor that the security was disabled. In the meantime after you've cleared them a path, move ahead into stage 2. You know what I expect from this, but keep a close eye on the monitors in case someone might get in our teammates way." Odin barked as Leah nodded pulling out an external hard drive.

Alan grunted softly as he pushed a man out of his chair and took a seat before speaking, "Hurry up Leah and get that stuff done. I want to move onto stage two of our little field trip before the Master figures out our little plan."

Magma looked confused upon seeing the device before asking, "What are you planning on doing exactly? It won't hurt the mission will it?"

"Oh that's right we didn't tell you two about our little secret mission. Professor Xavier wanted us to only do this; we're just efficiently spending our free time by stealing some data from the enemy. Never know where that important key piece of information will come from, and we got something else for this Master guy as well. Hmm, well since this is going well, I'm moving on to the part of the mission that is more my style if that's okay with you." Alan commented as he yawned in boredom.

Odin let out a soft chuckle before speaking, "Fine, but are you up for this, considering who just finished fighting. If you are make sure to keep it simple."

"Yeah I'm fine; I'll be back before you know it. I'm just going to make a few donations around the place. Also just in case Mystique is here, I injected myself with an isotope that can be seen by Cutter or Leah using their HUD." Alan stated as a small smirk appeared on his face as Magma and X-23 both looked at him with confused looks.

Magma watched him leave carefully before speaking, "Do you think he'll be okay by himself?"

"Believe mae darlin, Alan is one man ya don't have ta worrae about, he's a lot tougher than he appears. He's just not satisfied with how that fight ended, not that Ah can blame him. Leah, how's that hackin comin? Ah bet your lookin at some porn." Cutter replied as Odin looked at the other monitors.

"You stupid pervert, is that all you ever think about. Just leave me alone so I can get this done. There I've unlocked the doors, and now I'm going to start downloading all of the data we can get. I'll download as much as I can for 5 minutes before uploading the virus." Leah replied as she continued to work furiously typing at the keyboard.

"Sounds good to me, a good place to start would be financial records. However, that might not be feasible, so I'll let you direct the information download as you want Leah. Speaking of missions its time." Odin started as he pulled out one of the X-men's communication devices. "This is Odin, mission complete, the door's open. Contact me if you need directions."

**Cyclops Team**

Cyclops looked over the area one last time before having everyone move. Odin had just sent the okay through their communication gear, and that meant things were ready. He had to admit it had been easier and quicker than he expected as they made their way covertly through the area. When they finally made their way to the perimeter fence it was easy for Jean to lift them all over it without any trouble. Making their way inside was going to be a top priority, and so far things were going really well.

"Odin, this is Cyclops, do you read." Cyclops spoke into the communicator as a little hissing was heard.

"Roger that, what do you need?" Odin asked as his voice came over the radio softly.

"Which door should we use?" Cyclops asked as they were moving closer and closer to the main building.

There was a silent pause for a moment until the answer came, "There is a door labeled maintenance, should be a click east of your position. It's the best path for you to take and with security disabled it will place you close to your objectives."

"Thanks, I'll take if from here." Cyclops spoke as the communicator went silent once more.

"We know where to go and what we have to do. It might be hard comrade but we understand." Colossus spoke as he remained in his human form for the time being.

"Let's move guys, we got some time before they figure out that some uninvited company has shown up." Cyclops stated as he started to run, mentally thanking Odin and his team for disabling all of the security.

Cyclops and his team finally smiled as they made it to the door, they couldn't believe their luck when they opened it and not a single alarm sounded. Entering through there, Cyclops watched the area closely as Jubilee was the final person to enter and shut the door. Looking down the hallway to the left, Cyclops motioned for everyone to follow him into the base.

"According to the blueprints, there are two holding cells in this direction. If its right then two members of the Brotherhood should be there waiting for us." Cyclops commented as they ran through the dimly lit hallway.

"Da, I have faith in Odin and his comrades, they definitely will be right." Colossus spoke as he shifted into his large metallic form.

Two guards stumbled in their way only to be quickly iced up by Iceman followed by Jean using her telepathic capabilities to force them to go to sleep. Walking past the opposition, Cyclops searched the area carefully before pulling out his own palm pilot. Looking at the map, he pointed to three doors that could be trouble since it was possible for guards to be in those particular rooms. The group proceeded slowly making it past the first door only to have Cyclops stop them at the second.

'This door is propped open, someone is in there. I had better check this out or could be trouble when we go to get the Brotherhood out of here.' Cyclops thought as he slowly pushed the door open, his eyes glowing as he prepared to fire an optic blast.

"Hey there soldier boy, how's the mission going?" Alan asked as Cyclops lowered his guard and decided not to fire.

"Alan what are you doing here?" Jubilee asked as she watched the man stand up from his crouching position.

Alan merely shrugged his shoulders before responding, "Taking care of a few things firecracker that's all. It will make things easier down the road for us when we are making our departure."

"How are you doing that exactly?" Cyclops asked curious as to what the man was up to.

"Well that's simple soldier boy, I knocked out a few guards and then well I decided to make sure your way was clear. You'll find only a few guards in between you and your objective and I suggest you hurry. I've got a few other errands to run before its time to go." Alan stated as he walked away from the group and left the room.

"Okay let's move on back to the original assignment." Cyclops replied as he lead his group out and looked towards the area he came from seeing Alan's form moving that way.

'It shouldn't be much farther to the Brotherhood now; if we can make it there then this should go quickly enough. I just hope things are going this well for everyone else.' Jean thought as the group started to move again slowly.

Cyclops and his team made their way quickly through the next room, so far the men guarding it had been easy to handle. Jean pushed two men away with her telekinesis knocking them out by tossing them into a wall. Colossus rumbled forward pulling off a door so the others could look inside of the hallway. A couple of guards looked surprised upon seeing the man, open fire as soon as the shock subsided. Bullets bounced off Colossus' metal exterior, as he rumbled forward knocking two of the men out with his large metal fist.

"My apologies comrades, I got a little excited and went ahead of you." Colossus spoke softly as Cyclops shook his head.

"Don't worry about it unless someone hears the gunshots all of the alarms have been disabled. Let's go, all we have to do is get down this hallway and we will arrive at the first two holding cells." Cyclops stated as he motioned for the others to follow him.

"I can't believe so far all we've had to face are some guards how boring?" Iceman started as he thought of an idea. "Maybe we'll run into some real action here soon, or we could always go help Odin or Wolverine's team."

Jubilee thought about the situation replying carefully, "Come on lets go, we might be able to go back and help if we get this done quickly."

"It's not much further; I still can't detect their minds though. The Brotherhood's minds are still being blocked, I don't know what to expect when we get to them." Jean said as she let Cyclops know she couldn't target their minds at least for now.

"That's okay, we expected it. I only hope that Wolverine's team is already on their way down." Cyclops stated as the small group made their way down the hallway.

Meanwhile with Alan, the red haired marine stopped for a moment taking in his surroundings. He was in some kind of lab after moving past the entrance that Cyclops and his team had taken. Reaching in his pack for some C-4, Alan set the explosive carefully before walking over to a set of lab computers. Moving the mouse carefully, Alan smiled as he looked at the latest reports from the lab. His smile quickly disappeared as he memorized the words and destroyed the monitors by pushing them off the table. Reaching down to the computers he quickly ripped the computers apart and took the hard drives from them before standing back up.

'Of all the stupid…why in the hell would this stupid son of a bitch do that here? I got to inform Brandon about this before something happens; he has to know what they've been working on here. I got to make sure that Leah focuses on something in particular as well now. I have to stop this at all cost or everything we have done at this point will be for nothing. Damn and I haven't even made it to the armory or that other place yet.' Alan thought as he looked down at the sparks from the computer monitors.

Alan activated his communicator before speaking, "Odin, this is Alan, I'll be there in about 10 minutes. I've got two places left before I can come back, I want you to tell Hammer and Cutter to get their asses back to the Blackbird and assemble the ASWS. They'll know what to do. We've got a big problem that has to be dealt with ASAP. Tell Leah to download every fucking lab report that she can from this place. Dr. McCoy needs to see those reports because if I understood them right then well, we can talk about it as soon as I get there."

"Understood, we'll be waiting and I'll have Leah begin downloading those lab files right now." Odin replied as the man ran off returning to the operation center.

In the operation center Leah just chuckled as she moved the lab report files to the list of things to copy. So far in the time that she had been copying which had been about 8 minutes she had retrieved financial documents and maps of various location. The computer monitor flashed a bit as it was waiting for her to activate the virus she had uploaded a few minutes ago. Magma and the others stood there around the room carefully observing either the monitor or the hallway.

"Any idea about where Wolverine and his team are yet? I'm kinda of worried about the fact we haven't heard from them, but what about Cyclops team have they secured their objectives yet?" Odin asked as Hammer and Cutter stood guard at the door way.

"No communications from Wolverine's team yet, but they did receive the confirmation and I'm sure they have already entered the base. Last communication from Cyclops had his team entering the hallway leading to the objectives. I'm more concerned with why Alan is focusing on the lab files, he must have found something big. " Leah retorted as Odin merely sighed before letting her get back to work.

"I'll worry about that when he gets here, I'll contact the Professor and see if Wolverine's team has made any progress." Odin stated as he closed his eyes to focus his thoughts.

**Wolverine's Team**

Wolverine roared as he tossed another set of guards to the side, so far his team had gone through about 12 guards. Shadowcat merely shook her head as Forge and Multiple entered the room, Wolverine was a one man army and so far he had taken care of all opposition. The room they had just entered seemed to be a kitchen that served food to the base, but it seemed all but abandoned after the fight. Wolverine took a sniff of the stale base air before Nightcrawler teleported into the room.

"Wolverine, zo far I have seen not much in the form of security. All of the cameras zeem to be out of order and very few guards are out on patrol." Nightcrawler spoke as Wolverine motioned for everyone to move forward.

Wolverine took a few steps further before speaking, "What about you half pint, you find anything?"

"Nope like I scouted ahead but I didn't see anyone that might cause a problem. I was careful to not draw attention to myself just like you instructed." Shadowcat answered as she phased through a table and continued the conversation.

"Good, we are behind schedule so let's go. Cannonball, you watch Forge and make sure he gets there in one piece." Wolverine growled as he shook his thinking about the situation.

"Right dontcha worry Forge, I'll watch your back." Cannonball spoke as Wolverine raised his hand halting the conversation while he sniffed the air.

'I smell that unnatural son of a bitch Reaper close by, but I also smell some cheap cologne. Wilson's here, its kind of curious as to why that…forget I don't have time for this.' Wolverine thought as he opened the door and walked into the hallway.

"We should keep moving before someone finds us here." Forge reiterated as the group started moving again as Logan kept his thoughts to himself.

Wolverine and his team moved quickly as they traveled down the hallway, they only had a few rooms between them and the goal. The group was making good progress until a wall exploded and out of the debris stepped a man that with the exception of Logan everyone feared. A deep bellicose laugh echoed through the hallways as a scythe landed in the ground in front of them.

"Welcome insects to my home, it seems that the Master was correct in the fact we have uninvited company. I have been waiting so patiently for you to come here, so all of you insects can die in one place." Reaper spoke as a twisted smile developed on his face.

"Oh crap this isn't good, Wolverine what do we do?" Cannonball asked as he took a step back, he remembered his last fight with Reaper very well.

"I hate to say this but get a hold of Odin for reinforcements. I'll deal with this bastard for now." Wolverine growled as his claws came out of his fist.

"Right…" Shadowcat started before Reaper interrupted her.

"Yes little insect contact Odin, bring him here before me so that I might finally finish that fool. I have been waiting so long to finish off Odin, so long have I waited. In fact, I will do you insects a favor and wait five minutes for the man to show up provided none of you move until his arrival." Reaper boasted as his thoughts focused solely on one man.

'Killing Odin would be such a pleasure, much more pleasure than killing these pathetic insects. Why kill the weakest when I can eliminate the one that has caused me such delicious pain and destruction from our last fight. Of course I can always use these insects for a warm up if he doesn't show up. Besides Master gave no general orders in regards to these intruders just to keep them occupied.' Reaper thought as he walked slowly to the ground and picked up his scythe from the ground.

"Odin this is Shadowcat, Reaper has found us in the hallway leading to our goal. We need reinforcements." Shadowcat spoke into a microphone as she waited for a response.

Back in the control Odin stood there silent as he heard the transmission. Closing his eyes as he tried to make a decision about the situation, he ran the situation over and over in his head. Looking over at Magma, he sighed slightly before pressing a few buttons on the monitor and showing the picture of Reaper. Everyone in the room heard him take a deep breath as he finally made his decision.

"Okay, I've got to go but well I don't know which one of you to leave in charge. I definitely can't take you with me. Normally officers don't leave their post, but I'm no…" Odin started as his statement was interrupted by Alan.

"But you are no officer and your duty is to your friends, I've heard you say that before. I'll handle things here and keep the princess safe, now go and show me what you can really do. I want to see the full extent of your power now, show me the truth." Alan spoke as he entered the room slightly out of breath from running the whole way there.

"Thanks Alan, take care of things here. I'm counting on you and don't worry Magma, I'll be careful." Odin replied as Magma looked at him carefully.

Magma moved closer giving him a kiss on the cheek before speaking, "Be careful and come back to me, remember your promise."

"Don't worry it will be fine, I wont go back on my word." Odin stated as he left the room to fight Reaper.

Heroic Resolve part 2

Odin arrives just in time to fight with Reaper while Wolverine moves on to retrieve two members of the Brotherhood. While they fight Cyclops team manages to retrieve their members only to find the Master himself waiting for them at the exit.


	30. Heroic Resolve Part 2

**AN: Sorry I meant to post this last night, but I finally beat that damn mission that was giving me problems in Star Trek Legacy. What a troublesome game, well updates should be going smoothly now that I got the flow back in me. I'm working hard on getting updates to once a week fo this fic until the end which will be chapter 35. Well as always take it easy, review if you want, but above all else enjoy the fic. **

Cyclops and his team finally came to halt in front of the first of two doors. Opening the door slowly the group filed into a sterile white room with only a bed and a chair in the room. Standing there not even moving an inch was Toad. His usually green appearance had faded slightly and it seemed his body was much leaner and stronger than it had been previously. He was also wearing a modified version of his old uniform, the only difference being the fact it was all black in color. Walking straight up to Toad, Iceman waved his hand in front of his face, not a single thing happening.

"Damn, what the hell happened to this guy?" Iceman asked as Jean pulled out a syringe with tranquilizer in it.

"We don't know for certain, and don't go around doing things like that." Cyclops started as he cautiously watched Jean insert the syringe into Toad. "How long will that take to work?"

Jean removed the syringe before answering, "Not long, we should go ahead and get the other tranquilized before they start moving."

Toad's eyes glazed over about two minutes later as he nearly collapsed on the floor. Jean had caught him with her powers, levitating him about a foot off the ground with very little effort. Pleased so far with the results, Cyclops led his team to the second room.

The second room was just like the first with the exception of some much larger furniture. Sitting their in a large metallic chair was Blob, his blank expression apparent as he just stared at a wall. He looked much stronger and his clothing remained the same except it was all black.

'Great these guys are out like light bulbs, it's like absolutely no one is home in their heads. They don't even move or respond to our entrance or movements.' Cyclops thought as he waited patiently for Jean to repeat the procedure.

"This is going well; I'll let the Professor know that we have both of our targets. Hopefully it will be just as easy getting out of here." Cyclops commented as he waited for the drug to take affect. "Colossus, you'll carry Toad, Jean can you keep Blob up long enough to make it back to the Blackbird."

Jean nodded a small grunt escaping her lips as she slowly lifted Blob up, her thoughts solely on keeping him floating. Leaving the room with their two objectives in hand, Cyclops led the team out into the hallway. The lights flickered as the group walked forward until they completely shut down.

"What's going on here?" Iceman whispered softly as they tried to look around the room.

Iceman was whipped forward, and then tossed up into the air like a rag doll. Jean dropped Blob, the large man making a slight impact as she caught Iceman and attempted to force him back down. Taking up defensive positions, another telekinetic wave was sent out this time tossing everyone against the narrow hallway wall. A cloaked figure entered the room, his face covered in the darkness.

"X-men, I was so surprised to learn that someone had actually managed to infiltrate my base." the Master started a true hint of surprise in his voice, as he grabbed his head as if he had a headache. "What the hell is going on…?"

Back on the Velocity, Professor Charles Xavier was using Cerebro to launch his own attack. Focusing his mind carefully, he pushed forward attempting to penetrate the formidable mental defenses that the Master seemed to have. Paige and Noriko watched in fascination as he concentrated on the task at hand, it was almost as if he was unconscious. Meanwhile the Master was struggling with control as he dropped the members of Cyclops team that he had captured.

'Xavier is interfering with my powers by blocking my telepathic capabilities and now he is focusing on messing with my head. I will not be able to fight them and Xavier at the same time.' the Master thought as he decided to send a telepathic command to Mystique and flicking his right wrist up summoning some of his personal guards. 'Mystique, go and kill Xavier, leave nothing left of him but his dead carcass. Take a squad of troops with you to help.'

"Deal with these," the Master stated almost collapsing on his knees from the latest attack. "I want them alive, deal with this, I have other matters that must be dealt with now."

The guards merely nodded before pulling out an unusual looking baton with two prongs on it. It was a shocking appearance when electricity appeared on the batons, the current traveling between the two prongs. Cyclops fired an optic blast, the ruby blast nailing one man in his chest and sending him into the wall.

Two more guards were tossed away by Jean and her powers as Iceman skillfully slid around the room turning many of the men into frozen popsicles A few of the men were more than surprised to find themselves stuck in ice all the way up their neck. It didn't take long for the group to completely rout the guards.

"Great we got them; let's get back to the Blackbird and Dr. McCoy. Let's go," Cyclops ordered as he looked around at the pile of knockout guards.

In the control room, Alan watched the situation evolve as the security cameras caught most of the action. Hammer and Cutter had already left for the Blackbird while Magma and X-23 stood guard while Leah was downloading the computer files. Touching his head, the marine pressed a few buttons on the security monitor. On it at least three squads of guards were on their way to the control room.

"Hmm, looks like our gracious host has figured out we are here. I guess this is a good thing, I was getting bored. It's time to get out of here, Leah stop the download and activate the virus. We're getting the hell out of here now." Alan ordered as he pulled out his preferred weapon and motioned for X-23 and Magma to get behind him.

"Aye sir, I'm stopping the download now." Leah spoke as she removed the cord and placed the hard drive into her pack carefully. "Activating virus and transmitting it over their internal network, I'm ready to go."

Magma looked over at the monitors before speaking, "What are we going to do about them, there's no way out except through them."

"I've got the canister of tear gas that Cutter left for us. I'll use that to clear the way." Leah spoke as she pulled out the canister and loaded it into the launcher.

"Hmm, okay that sounds good. We'll try to do this the more peaceful way if at all possible. That will be stage one of my plan, now listen closely for the rest. We're going to rendezvous with Cyclops team and then head back to the Blackbird with one exception. After that I'm heading off to get Odin; he'll literally drain himself dry in his fight with Reaper." Alan started as he pulled out his modified weapon. "Then again, I got a better idea. Alright princess now's your time to shine. I want you to make us a new exit while we keep our visitors occupied. X-23, you watch her back, Leah you're with me."

Alan and Leah took up positions slightly inside of the control room, Leah starting it off by firing the canister of tear gas down the corridor. While she pulled out her main weapon, Alan began firing his own weapon in short bursts. The bursts didn't last long as he quickly took cover behind the wall, a wave of gunfire sent into the control room.

"Impatient bastards, Leah give them something to look at for a moment." Alan started as he reached into his pack and pulled out a grenade. "Fire in the hole, how's that exit coming princess?"

Magma was burning through the wall while she spoke, "Another minute or two is all I need and I'll be done."

Tossing a small grenade down the hallway, the guards merely looked at it for a moment before beating a hasty retreat. The explosion that followed sent most of the guards at the front flying, but the guards in the rear remained relatively unharmed. Sporadic bursts of gunfire could be heard coming from the guards aiming at the control room. Reaching into his pack, Alan pulled out another piece of C-4 carefully placing it on the bottom of the wall.

"Sir using that in a place like this wouldn't be advisable after the promise that we gave..." Leah commented as he just shook his head and attached it carefully to the wall.

"He won't care besides this is necessary, one hit from those bullets and it's all over for anyone here. Princess, I need that door now." Alan barked as both Leah and he returned fired.

"It's done," Magma replied as Leah tossed a flash bang down the hallway buying the two enough time to make it to the new door.

"Move your asses then, if they want this place back, they can have it." Alan spoke as the group of four ran through the opening Amara had made in the wall.

Looking around at the hallway they were in, Alan quickly motioned them to the left. The group being lead quickly out of the way by Alan, the man had activated the timer for that last piece of C-4. Meanwhile as a certain group of guards entered the control room, their last sight was a blinding light as the charge detonated destroying the room and the guards with it. Alan continued moving, the group heading towards the entrance that Cyclops and his team used.

'Hmm something isn't quite right about this, I have a feeling there is an ambush waiting for us when we get outside.' Alan thought until the small group arrived at their location.

"We hold position here for a minute to catch our breath, and then we move onto the internal point where everyone is supposed to meet up." Alan stated as he looked down at the watch he was wearing.

Meanwhile Wolverine and his team had their hands full to say the least. For the time being Reaper had remained totally still and true to his words, but everyone could tell the man was becoming more impatient by the second. All they could do is stay perfectly still and wait for reinforcements.

"I grow weary of waiting for Odin; I'll kill you insects before moving on to my real opponent." Reaper bellowed charging forward with his scythe out.

Wolverine growled out a response, "Shit get the hell out of the way."

Letting his claws out, Wolverine barely managed to block the scythe from connecting with Forge. It only took a minute however for Reaper to use the scythe like a bat and send Wolverine flying back. Forge looked on almost paralyzed in fear before Nightcrawler appeared and teleported both out of trouble, Nightcrawler teleported away hoping to draw Reaper away.

"Damn, who in the world is this guy? I know Xavier spoke…" Forge started only to be phased out of the way by Shadowcat in order to avoid Reaper's continuing rampage.

"That is like Reaper and he's a really…man like give me a break." Shadowcat spoke as she phased the two through a hallway and outside the building.

"Thanks, I appreciate your assistance." Forge said quickly as the two looked around the area.

Looking around the area, the two were surprised to still see so many vehicles outside. Staying on their guard, the two just sat there a moment recovering until a loud roar could be heard echoing throughout the base.

The momentary peace didn't last long for the two, back inside Wolverine jumped on Reaper's back. Wolverine let out a rabid growl as he slashed at the back and the arms only to have Reaper drop his scythe and launch himself through the wall in an attempt to remove the man. Reaper let out a roar of frustration as he continued to attempt to remove Wolverine a wall shattering as the two continued outside.

"Get off of my back foul insect," Reaper bellowed as he flew towards a truck aiming his back for the truck.

"Bub, I'm giving you a chance to leave here before I leave you in pieces." Wolverine growled as he jumped off the man's back.

All that could be heard was a loud crunching sound as Wolverine managed to land on his feet and Reaper had ended up turning a truck into a twisted pile of metal. Lodged in the frame of a truck, Reaper was slowly pulling himself out.

"Pathetic insects you attempt to harm a god," Reaper bellowed as a small stream of blood flowed out of his back from Wolverine's adamantium claws. "How dare you harm a god, I will crush you for this attempt. You may be Weapon X, but I'm Reaper and not even you can oppose a man who is a god."

Reaper released a horrifying roar as picked up the remains of the trunk and tossed it at Wolverine. The truck never made it as a spherical shaped energy blast destroyed the truck marking the arrival of Odin. Small pieces of truck remnants seemed to rain down as Odin walked through the hole Reaper had made. Reaper merely grinned as his eyes widened and a sick, twisted smile appeared on his face.

"Reaper," Odin started as he gathered two energy blasts, one in each hand. "Wolverine, I apologize for interfering in your fight however, is everyone okay here?"

"Just fine marine, you think you can take this guy. We got a mission to finish." Wolverine growled as Reaper interrupted the two.

"Odin, so good to see you could make it here. I wanted to show you what you caused and then afterwards I'm going to present your carcass to the Master. He will be very pleased when I eliminate you." Reaper boasted as the two continued to stare at each other.

'I have to keep my mind straight and remember what Alan and my grandfather taught me. If I lose my cool and go after him like I have in the past then it will be just like the other two fights I've had with Reaper. Got to stay calm and don't get all pissed off or I wont be able to think objectively.' Odin thought as the two mortal enemies stared each other down.

"Go, I'll do what I can with the situation." Odin replied as Reaper charged forward flying quickly in an attempt to tackle Odin.

Wolverine merely nodded backing away slowly as an energy barrier blocked Reaper from advancing further. Standing up quickly Reaper slammed his fist against the barrier as Odin grunted under the strain of maintaining the barrier. As Wolverine and his team finally made it back to their mission objective, Odin finally let the barrier dissipate.

"Die Odin, die a miserable insects death." Reaper bellowed as flew up in the air and then swooped down like a giant falcon.

'Hmm I can't fight him head on but…I've got it. It will take a little effort but maybe it will work. This is the best strategy that I can come up with for the moment. Just like chess the best general has to stay five or more moves ahead of their opponent.' Odin thought as he dove underneath the swooping Reaper and rolled over to fire a small energy blast in retaliation.

"Today doesn't work for me, but I'm sure hell is more then ready for your arrival." Odin replied as he quickly got on his feet and ran for cover behind a truck.

Reaper growled as he floated in the air searching for Odin before bellowing, "Come out insect and fight me. You lack the courage of those marine insects I killed during our first meeting."

Reaper remained there floating moving slightly higher to get a better view. He let out a loud roar as his frustration began to build; he couldn't find Odin any where in his line of sight. Nothing moved as a small puddle of blood started to form underneath Reaper from his earlier wounds.

"Odin, you pathetic insect, get out here and fight me." Reaper bellowed as he flew down picking up a small truck and tossed it at another vehicle.

'Sorry not interested in fighting like you, its time for me to fight smart. Fight like I've been taught to fight when I'm dealing with an overly powerful opponent. Everything is going according to plan, now I just have to wait for a decent opening to mess with your head.' Odin thought as he moved almost half a click east as he watched Reaper throw anything he could get his hands on due to his growing frustration and his eyes narrowed as he saw an opening he had been waiting for by preparing two blasts and sending both covertly to the north.

Reaper began to strain his strength as he picked up a heavy transport vehicle, as soon as he turned to toss the vehicle, both of his arms were hit with laser like energy blast causing him to drop the overly heavy vehicle on top of himself. Reaper growled as he lifted the truck up and tossed it aside, he was certain the blasts had come from the north.

"You fight like a coward Odin, what happened to fighting like a marine? Even those pathetic insect marines and your friends that I fought a while back did so with more courage then you." Reaper yelled as no response came for him.

Reaper tossed a small car before yelling, "Damn you Odin answer me."

"I fight to achieve victory and nothing more; I'm not coming down to your level any more. From here on out, I'm fighting the way I was taught to fight by my grandfather and a friend of mine." Odin replied as he stepped out into the open causing a twisted smile to appear on Reaper's face.

"How nice to see you Odin, now die…" Reaper began before an energy blast hit him directly in the face from the south. "How did you do that insect?"

Odin smiled slightly before speaking, "It doesn't matter; now I thought you wanted to fight me."

Reaper roared in anger as he flew directly at Odin, a small barrier of energy appearing in his way. The energy barrier fluctuated as Reaper pounded on the barrier, eventually shattering as Reaper charged forward. Reaper slammed his right fist into his opponent's armored chest. He continued on the offensive repeatedly hitting the armored chest of Odin until using a massive right uppercut that sent him flying backwards and eventually rolling to a stop on the ground.

'Damn that hurts; I got to close to him. I have to get back to my plan or I'm screwed.' Odin thought as he finally stood up small pieces of his armor crumbling to the ground.

"Die insect," Reaper bellowed as he flew forward only to miss Odin as he dove to the right and sent two small energy blasts after Reaper.

Odin merely smiled; he could easily create those energy blasts and send them all around the battlefield making his life easier, if and only if he had the time. While it was still a struggle to control them all, it had gotten easier the more he practiced. Right now the blasts were of very low intensity, which he was merely using to distract and position his opponent. Not to mention low intensity blasts were much easier to control and didn't cause him to focus solely upon controlling them.

"I have nothing to say to you Reaper, all I know is, I want you to die." Odin answered as two more blast shot out and nailed Reaper forcing him to take a few steps back.

'He's almost in position provided I keep him off balanced and keep him from the offensive then I can finish this in another two or three moves. Even if he isn't the smartest man around, I need to keep him occupied for the others safety though, I only know of two mutants that could stop Reaper besides myself.' Odin thought as he had slowly been forcing Reaper to a location surrounded by vehicles and he had also been slowly forcing him to the ground.

"Hey Reaper, why don't you come on down and fight? You like close range fighting don't you?" Odin taunted as he watched the man eagerly accept his bait.

Reaper grinned as he floated down to the ground before speaking, "You will regret your words, at least the last we fought it was a challenge. You showed power that could make you a god, but now I'll kill you."

Reaper lunged at Odin quickly, closing the gap between the two rapidly as Odin merely stood there. He was preparing the most powerful move he could use and Reaper could tell as the energy bubble started to appear around the two. Reaper merely shrugged until he stopped for a moment when he realized the energy bubble was shrinking and there were very few errant blasts of energy lightening.

"I learned something last time; I waste a lot of energy doing this. I came up with this as a solution after some advice from two friends." Odin mumbled through the pain as he continued to compress the power into an orb of energy the size of his chest with his right hand and the lower half of his right arm completely covered by the energy.

Reaper just stood there expecting the same type of attack as he had when he attacked the institute however that wasn't true this time. The two cars behind him exploded as they were hit by a stray blast of energy lightening causing him to be forced towards Odin due to the explosion. Reaper stopped in the middle of the air watching Odin with slight curiosity before just charging forward again.

"It doesn't matter what you've learned, it won't help you insect. Close range combat is my specialty and none shall oppose me and live." Reaper roared as he charged towards Odin not caring about the attack Odin carried with him.

'The only fool here is you Reaper for being too stupid to realize how strong this attack is going to be. I'm barely keeping this thing together, if I don't get rid of this attack now it might destroy me.' Odin thought as he focused hard to keep the attack together, the energy was numbing to a point, and his right arm felt almost completely numb.

Odin started to move forward slowly, walking at first until he broke out into a run. He dragged his right arm slightly behind him, the energy literally ripping the ground apart behind him as he went. Pieces of dirt and metal seemed to vaporize as it came into contact with his attack. Reaper's eyes went wide as Odin lunged at him and thrust the energy blast directly into the area that Reaper's heart was located.

"Let's see you survive this." Odin yelled as Reaper attempted to grab his right arm.

Reaper quickly realized his mistake when his attempt to grab the arm resulted in his arm being nearly blown apart; the energy had badly burned his arm and left it a charred black color. Odin let out a small smile as the energy pierced Reaper's skin and his opponent released a roar of pain. The energy started to dissipate as Odin watched as the skin was ripped open in Reaper's shoulder. Rolling off of Reaper, he slowly used a car that remained to help him finally stand up again.

'I missed his heart, but not even his tough skin could stop that attack. I used a lot of power though and if it wasn't for Storm's help I wouldn't have been able to do this. It would be best to get out of here before he gets up, if he gets up. Sorry Johnson, but I don't have the power to kill him right now and the mission comes before revenge. I'll head back inside to rendezvous with Wolverine and his team.' Odin thought as he struggled to walk, he was still weak from using so much power.

Slowly but surely he started to walk away, making his way back into the base in order to use it for cover. He was moving almost at a slow crawl before he started to feel like he could walk normally again. Reaching onto the belt of his uniform, Odin pulled out a KABAR knife before moving into the next room.

Odin used his free hand to pull out his communicator before speaking, "Alan come in, this is Odin, I'm going to meet up with Wolverine's team. I'll meet you back at the meeting spot, good luck."

"Roger that, I'll take care of things on this end." Alan answered back as his friend switched to Wolverine's channel.

"Wolverine, I'm heading your way now. I'll meet up with you and then we'll get out of here." Odin answered as he heard a small growl acknowledging him.

While Odin and Reaper were fighting, Wolverine and his team had finally made their way to the lowest level of the base. It had only taken a few minutes to walk through the sterile and otherwise plain hallways. The only unusual room had been an overly ornate room, but Wolverine had decided to move on without exploring it due to time constraints. Shadowcat phased into one of the sterile rooms, phasing back out and motioning the others inside.

"I like can't believe Wanda is here. She's so quiet though and well passive." Shadowcat spoke as the others walked into the room after entering the room normally.

Wolverine took a sniff of the air before speaking, "Okay techie your up, and don't screw this up."

Wanda was just standing there with one difference her uniform had been changed to a red tank top and black skirt. She was just standing there not even bothering to move as Forge fired his newly developed stun weapon. Her body seemed to twitch slightly in the sterile room before Wolverine motioned for Nightcrawler to carry her.

"One down, we better hurry up and get the other one." Wolverine growled as the group went to collect the final member of the Brotherhood.

"Right and then ve can get out of here." Nightcrawler added as he teleported to the next room as the others quickly joined him.

Forge again used his stun weapon to incapacitate Lance as Shadowcat looked on a mixture of curiosity, fear, and other emotions on her face. The look on her face was so complicated before as Wolverine hefted the young man over his shoulders and started to leave.

"Time to go, we're done here." Wolverine started as he led his team out of the room and began his systematic withdrawal from the area. "Nightcrawler, teleport her out of her and get yourself back to the Blackbird. Do it quickly and remained there. We're going to get out of here through another exit, don't want to cross paths with Reaper or interfere if Odin and he are still at it."

Nightcrawler merely nodded before disappearing in a puff of sulfur smoke. While he couldn't reach the Blackbird in one teleport, it would take him less time to get there. This was something Wolverine had secretly hoped for because if Wanda was conscious she would be incredibly hard to defeat. Since Nightcrawler was taking her back and would be very hard to catch, this would make it less likely she would fall into enemy hands.

"Okay for the rest of you, we're taking the long way back." Wolverine growled as his group traveled down the corridor.

Back at the Blackbird Roberto, Paige, and Noriko were on edge as they watched the surrounding area. The three were sitting on the ramp leading up to the rear of the jet when they heard some bushes ready. Roberto had shifted forms, and Noriko was readying a blast of energy when Hammer and Cutter stepped out of the foliage. The two men merely nodded at them before walking right past them and into the back.

"Ah can't believe we got sent back her while they get ta have all the fun. What a pain, Ah wanted to fight some badass people to ya know." Cutter complained as the older man merely grunted and pointed to the box labeled ASWS.

"Um do ya guys need a hand?" Paige asked politely as the two guys turned to look at her.

Cutter looked her over twice before speaking, "No worries, whew you're going to be gorgeous when you're older. Ah can't believe how lucky the little general is, this would be like heaven for mae."

"Uh sure, Ah'm gonna head back outside now." Paige started as she walked off and sat back down on the ramp. "Odin was right that guy is a real pervert. Ah feel dirty just talkin to him."

"Yeah well we were warned about him by Leah, Alan, and Odin. Somehow I'm just not surprised, you should see Wolfsbane, and the guy spooked her at first. You know how she is with people she just met. She might trust Odin, but definitely not that guy." Roberto commented as the three sat there chatting somewhat aware of what was going on while the two were in the back and their surroundings.

Inside the Blackbird Cutter and Hammer were in the final stages of installation when something felt off. The birds outside had suddenly stopped chirping and that was usually a bad sign. Cutter shot up quickly grabbing his pack and his usual rifle; he slowly walked back to the plane's rear entrance remaining out of sight as he watched the three younger students. Hammer had followed his teammate, both men looking out of the plane cautiously.

"Ah'll watch the youngins, ya better finish the ASWS before the boss or little general gets angry. Ah think this shouldn't be to hard ta handle and tell the blue furry fellua to keep workin, Ah can handle this." Cutter whispered as the larger man nodded and went back to finish his work.

Roberto dodged quickly as he pushed Noriko and Paige out of the way from a tranquilizer dart. The three were surprised to see about 20 armed men and Mystique walk out of the forest, they were completely surrounded. Paige tore off her skin revealing a pair of metallic arms; Noriko prepared a blast of electricity while Roberto shifted to his more powerful form. Mystique just stood there directly north with a few of the men just standing there next to her.

"Now, now no need for you three to get hurt. Just let me through and you can be prisoners instead of well…you know." Mystique stated as the men next to her raised their weapons.

"We aren't givin up, our friends are countin on us." Paige barked fiercely as the guards started to snicker.

"What are a bunch of kids gonna to do us, oh we are so scared. Come on lets get these brats with the stun batons, that should be enough and the boss will probably give us a reward." one of the guards spoke as the group of men charged the three students.

Noriko fired a few blasts of electricity before yelling, "I'm not for sure how long I can keep this up. They aren't giving up and I'm trying to stun them but they seem to be wearing some kind of armor that's blocking my electric attacks."

"Don't worry, Paige, go tell those two we need help and have the Professor contact Storm for help." Sunspot ordered as the young blond girl nodded and ran to the back of the plane quickly.

"You should be more worried about me kid." Mystique spoke as she released some knock out gas causing Sunspot to power down as he struggled to remain conscious.

Noriko couldn't believe it as Sunspot struggled to stand, Mystique had cleverly used the guards as a distraction to release some kind of knock out gas she had in a canister. What made the girl even more nervous however, were the looks she was getting from the men. No matter how many she nailed another one stood up and one of them had finally managed to grab her hair yanking her backwards and onto the ground.

"Look what I caught boys." the guard spoke with a sinister tone as he lifted her up by her electric blue hair.

"Ooh, she's a little young; I hear Reaper likes em young. Wonder how she'll do." another man started while the guy holding her by the hair as another guard went to punch her.

The man's arm never connected with her as Paige ran into the group nailing the man hard with a shoulder block. The other guards were caught by surprise when a flash bang rolled right into the middle of the pack, Cutter following the young girl. Retrieving Noriko, the three stood there surrounded by guards.

"Ya know Ah got to admit maybe this wasn't the best idea. Well hell ta late now, Ah guess it's time to call in the back up. Yo ah damn it big fellua must not be done yet, so much for back up. Now Ah want you two ta kneel down for mae." Cutter yelled as he reached into his pack and pulled out some smoke grenades with his left hand.

"Is it a good idea…" Noriko began as the guards started attacking; she shocked a few away while Paige hit the guards as hard as she could.

Tossing the smoke grenade on the ground, the three disappeared as Cutter went to work. Using the cover of smoke, Cutter ran in and out of the guards, periodically attacking guards in the back or side. The remaining guards were beginning to lose their cool as the smoke started to dissipate. Paige and Noriko had run off to the side trying to keep up with Cutter until the man grabbed their hands and pulled them out of the smoking mess. As the smoke cleared up 10 guards remained and the three had made it out of their little trap.

"Ah your tellin mae Ah only got five of ya bastards. Damn, Ah must be losin my touch, pardon my French ladies." Cutter replied as he pulled out another smoke grenade and tossed it into the guards again, this time they tried to run out of the mess.

"Cutter, will you be okay…" Noriko started as the man patted her head like he was petting a dog.

"No worries darlin, you two wait here. Ah got some work to take care of, the boss or little general would have already beaten yall. Well here Ah come and blast any of them that get out of the smoke." Cutter yelled as he went on the offensive once again.

Mystique just smiled as she took advantage of the situation to enter the aircraft. The guards were keeping the two young mutant girls and the odd human occupied, leaving Xavier in her mind completely undefended. The fact was she didn't even manage to make halfway through the cargo compartment when a massive left thrust forced her back. She tried to kick him in the head, her small leg caught by his massive right hand. The man tossed her right into a crate as the women stood up glaring at him.

"I don't know who you are, but get out of my way." Mystique yelled as Hammer glanced at her seemingly uninterested in the women.

'Hmm this is Mystique, she would do this all to get at Xavier. This is disgraceful, grown men attacking children, they might have gifts, but they are still children.' Hammer thought as Mystique ran forward delivering a hard round house to his left side.

Hammer didn't even move as he caught the attack and dragged her out of the plane before tossing her to the ground outside. She shifted shape deciding to over power the man as she took the form of a bear. Hammer merely dropped his tranquilizer rifle on the ground as the two charged forward and started to grapple with each other. Mystique had the advantage at first using the bear's claws to slash at the man barely scratching his armor as she slashed. Slashing wildly almost, her attacks ended the moment the man managed to grab both paws.

"Power alone is not enough." Hammer commented as he used a judo throw to toss the bear to the ground.

Mystique shifted back to her normal form before speaking, "I'm not done yet."

Next Chapter: Heroic Resolve part 3

The teams prepare to make their escape, but getting out of this one isn't going to be as easy as they hope. Things get rough when the Master plays his trump card, but he's not the only one with that has an ace in the hole. With their backs to the wall can they escape with the Brotherhood in hand.


	31. Heroic Resolve Part 3

**AN: I had hoped to have this up earlier, but well a lot has been happening to me. First I have surgery and then well I'm not even going to mention Valentine's Day and that insanity. Any way, I'm working hard to get this next chapter out in one week so here's hoping I'll be able to do it this time. Things in this one are starting to wind down, but I'm having a lot of interesting ideas for the sequel. As always take it easy and enjoy the fic. **

Hammer stood there watching Mystique carefully, the older marine finally coughed slightly as his uniform had a few cuts in his uniform. She charged forward changing into a jaguar and tackling the man as he barely managed to get his arms up to block her claws. Struggling to remove the shape shifter from on top of him, the only thing that saved him was a chain wrapping around Mystique's right leg. She was yanked off quickly by Cutter, who had recently finished off the remaining guards.

"Sorry Ah took so long big fellua, they were a bit stronger then Ah thought. Ya okay?" Cutter asked as his response was the man standing back up and looking at a few of his injuries that had resulted in a couple of nicks and cuts.

"Power alone isn't enough, stop her here." Hammer spoke as Cutter ran over to him and handed over the end of the chain.

"Ah know, give her a big old toss, time to send the old hag away." Cutter commented as Mystique literally seethed in anger at being called a hag.

"How dare you call me, I'll…" Mystique started as she struggled to remove the chain from around her ankle.

Hammer had a vague smile on his face as he used his vast strength to lift her off the ground. He was spinning her in the air finally releasing her and letting her sail into the air. Mystique was still trying to remove the chain, but the chain had dug into her skin and wasn't going to be easily removed. The small trip ended suddenly as she landed with a sickening thud against a tree.

"Not bad big fellua, Ah was a little worried for a minute there." Cutter started as the big man collapsed on the ground.

"I have done what I can; the rest is up to you and the rest of the team." Hammer retorted as the big man fell into what appeared to be a deep sleep.

Cutter groaned as he realized he would have to carry Hammer into the Blackbird. Complaining slightly about having to do all of the hard work he did his best to carry the large man into the back of the plane. Paige and Noriko remained on guard however, but what none of them realized was that Mystique was still conscious and removing the chain from around her right leg.

'I'm not done yet, there is no way that I'm going to let this go. If he finds out he might start to back out of our deal and for their sakes I can't let that happen. I'm doing all of this for them, but is that...' Mystique thought as she finally managed to remove the chain and tossing it onto the ground and Kurt teleported into view. 'I don't want him to see me like this, I'll finish this later.'

While the landing site had erupted into an impromptu battlefield and it appeared to be concluded for the time being, Odin had finally met up with Wolverine and his team. The group was slowly making their way to the meeting point with Cyclops, the idea was to meet up outside of the base and travel in a large group. The trip to the point had been uneventful with the exception of a few guards being knocked out.

"Uh how far do you think we are from the point?" Cannonball asked as Wolverine sniffed the air, he knew the scent but oddly enough the two hadn't shown up at all.

"Not long, half pint and marine, you two take the rear." Wolverine growled as the two nodded and fell in line.

Forge was helping to carry Lance as he spoke, "I don't know how much longer I can carry this guy. Guess I need to start working out more."

"I would offer to take him but I need my hands free so I can fight. Just hang in there, once we get to the point I'm sure someone will help you." Odin replied softly as Wolverine had ignored the comment and just kept walking towards the point.

'We've gone through eight hallways, two labs, and a hanger bay that was completely empty. Alan's been unusually quiet too, normally he would be asking for a sit-rep or something by now. Something is definitely up; the number of guards that have come across us has been decreasing as well.' Odin thought as the group finally arrived at the final destination.

Wolverine had slowly opened the door into the garage area; everyone was supposed to meet up in the garage. Two hummers and a large troop transport truck were in the garage as the group entered the room. Standing inside was Alan and the remaining members of Odin's team as well as Cyclops and his team. Cyclops nodded as the group gathered together, the mission was almost complete.

"Good, I see you got your two. Then that only leaves getting out of here, that shouldn't be too hard or at least I hope it won't be." Cyclops commented as Odin shook his head in disagreement.

"I wouldn't go that far Cyclops; you're only safe once you return to base. That and based upon what I've seen, I would have to say that the enemy is planning an ambush once we try and leave." Odin replied as he took everything he knew into account.

Alan smiled as he nodded his head before speaking, "I was wondering if you had picked up on it, glad you haven't gotten to rusty. The question is how we deal with the ambush, just because we know about it doesn't necessarily mean a damn thing."

"Well how should we handle this?" Jean asked as everyone turned to look at Cyclops with the exception of Odin, Alan and Leah.

The three exceptions had gathered together and were whispering softly to each other about the situation. Cyclops on the other hand had the benefit of having everyone watching him while he came up with a plan. A sudden idea hit him as he cleared his throat eventually gaining everyone's attention even the other three.

"We're going to use the truck to transport the three members of the Brotherhood. If you don't mind Alan or Leah could one of you two drive. The rest of us will deal with the ambush while we pave the way for the driver to escape with them. Then we can have Storm's team come in and help us get out of here." Cyclops started as everyone nodded, it was a decent plan.

"Leah will drive; I'll stick with Odin here and lend you guys a hand. That way if anything does happen, I'll be able to try and stop it. I've still got plenty of tricks up my sleeve and I want to get a chance to find this Master guy and pay him a visit." Alan replied as Leah got into the truck and searched for the keys.

Leah sighed slightly before speaking, "Good plan if the keys are still here, if not I'll need someone to hot wire it for me."

"Not a problem, I'll hotwire it. Give me five minutes; this should take me too long. I know my way around transport trucks like this." Odin replied as he ran over to the truck and started to work his magic so to speak, a few minutes later the truck roared to life.

"Okay, Leah, don't stop until you get to the landing site. Load up the remaining members and then we'll go first followed by driving them away." Cyclops ordered as Jean used her powers to lift Blob into the truck while Colossus slowly placed Toad and Avalanche inside as well.

"Hmm, Cannonball, Magma, and Multiple, you'll be going with them. I want you to protect them and reinforce the landing site. I have a bad feeling about this situation and you three might be needed at the landing site." Odin ordered as the three looked at him and then jumped inside the back of the truck.

"Are you sure about this, maybe you should come too after fighting him. You do look tired and your armor is damaged." Magma spoke as a faint smile crossed his face.

"I'll be fine; I know how to fight in other ways besides using my powers. Alan, mind if I borrow one of your side arms just in case." Odin replied as she finally relented and his friend handed him a 9mm pistol that he promptly slide into his uniform's belt.

Magma had relented but wasn't happy about it before speaking again, "Okay, I'll see you at the landing site then and you better make it there."

Leah revved the engine of the truck as the people staying behind lined up slowly alongside the garage doors. Odin, Alan, and Cyclops lined up on the left side the three carefully prying the door open to look outside. Alan used his weapon to search the grounds before motioning all clear.

Cyclops seemed slightly surprised at the order before responding, "That's was a good idea, I was going to send someone to guard them as well. So what kind of trap do you think this guy is going to use?"

"We'll find out soon enough, we can get started as soon as you're ready." Odin answered as the field leader of the X-men peek his head out before motioning for every to move out.

Flinging the doors open, the group ran forward and unexpectedly things were very quiet as the large group moved slowly towards a road leading out of the base. The only noise the group heard was the clicking of weapons as guards appeared from almost everywhere, they were using the vehicles for cover, there weapons pointing towards them as the Master finally made another appearance. This time was different as Gauntlet and Omega Red joined the man along with a dozens of guards in shiny red armor.

"Odin, I must say how disappointed I am in you. Since you are Henry's grandson, I was hoping for a more interesting plan. The Ayers family is known for being very exotic and unorthodox in their methods, but you are so very predictable. You honestly think that I would allow you into one of my bases unnoticed. This place is just something I use for my research and its prime real estate location. In fact Deadpool should be paying your reinforcements a visit as we speak." the Master spoke as Alan pulled out his modified rifle and pointed it directly at him.

Odin shot his left arm out stopping Alan from moving further before speaking, "Easy Alan, I don't care what he says about this or my family name. You can speak my last name and the name of my grandfather all you want, it doesn't change anything. Enemies are enemies there is really nothing more to be said about the situation. I don't think Deadpool is really there any way, it's just a taunt to make us lose our focus."

"Interesting notion about my words Odin; you have changed a lot it seems. So this is the famous Alan Fitzgerald, I didn't think I would have the pleasure of meeting you so soon. So did she send you here to try and stop me, foolish little girl playing games that she really shouldn't be." the Master spoke as everyone's eyes went wide with shock, not even Odin knew who Alan worked for and this man seemed to know it all. "Ah I see you haven't told them who you are working for yet; well I do enjoy a good surprise so I won't ruin it for you. You the last survivor of the Devil Dog squad, I do ask this favor in return oh great devil dog, tell that little girl boss of yours that she should stop trying to interfere in my business."

"Hmm, really you believe too many rumors, I'm just a man helping out a friend that's all. As for my current employer that really doesn't concern you, however insulting me by saying I work for little girls, I probably should kill you for that and a few hundred other crimes you've committed like murder. " Alan stated calmly as he quickly sized up the situation.

The Master actually laughed slightly before responding, "How very droll, I expected you would say something like that. That is how your kind is taught deny and eliminate, that's what you did to Kincaid isn't it? Ah well, if you surrender I might possibly consider letting all of you be slaves."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm afraid we'll have to decline your offer for surrendering. Here's my counter offer, you surrender or well put it briefly you die." Alan smugly retorted, he was no longer in the mood to play around but he couldn't exactly start killing things left and right without getting into trouble.

Alan and Odin merely glanced at each other as the Master finally made his move to ambush them. Motioning for the guards to start firing, Jean and Odin both used their powers to block the bullets by raising protective barriers. Odin grunted though, he had used a lot of energy in the fight with Reaper, but he still had enough to fight. Alan though had taken the offensive tossing smoke and sting grenades over and under the vehicles as the guards that received the sting grenades were almost immediately knocked unconscious.

'Better move quickly before these guys realize what the hell I'm up planning. Hope Odin can keep up the defensive effort while I focus on the offense.' Alan thought as the smoke grenades wreaked havoc on the under trained guards, they would flee and that would make them easy pickings.

"I got these guys." Iceman barked as he used his powers to ice up a few of the guards and caused an icy spot to appear causing a few guards to slip and fall on the ground.

"Remember the objective, Colossus; I need you to move those cars for her." Cyclops ordered as the giant Russian charged forward and started tossing vehicles out of the way.

"Da, I understand. I would rather not hurt you guys, but you have left us with very little choice." Colossus spoke as bullets bounced off of his metallic skin and he tossed a vehicle at a crowd of guards.

Jubilee on the other hand wasn't very busy as she hung near the back; occasionally she would blind a guard with some fireworks but nothing overly dangerous. To her surprise however, Bobby had actually powered down from his ice form and was gloating about how cool he was. What the over confident kid didn't realize however was a red dot that had appeared on his face. Running as fast as she could, she pushed him out of the way just in time as a bullet was fired and nailed her in the shoulder.

"Jubilee, what…Jubilee are you okay? Speak to me." Iceman spoke as Alan grabbed him tossed him behind a car for cover and dragged Jubilee there as well.

Alan grunted as he looked over at her before yelling, "Odin, we got a sniper out there. I'm going hunting for the little bastard."

"I thought this armor was bullet proof, how could she have been." Iceman spoke as Alan backhanded him hard, a red mark appearing on his face.

"You stupid fool, you were gloating about your greatness and loss your focus. Yeah this is great armor, but every piece of armor has a weak point and this guy found this one. If you weren't showboating then this might have been avoided. Now you get her on that transport." Alan bellowed as he mentally tracked the location where he thought the bullet's trajectory had come from.

Sitting in a tree one of the Master's elite guards grinned as he made his first hit. Aiming his weapon for the next shot, he had pointed the weapon at Cyclops. Nailing the leader would have been a nice touch until he noticed something in his scope. All he saw was another man with a rifle before he saw a muzzle flash. The man fell out of the tree dead from a bullet that Alan had fired.

"Hmm, he was good but I was better and that's all that matters as a sniper." Alan muttered as he noticed the guards were beginning to fall back.

Jean slowly made her way to the group before speaking, "What happened here?"

"She got hit by a sniper and for a bullet to penetrate this kind of armor it would have to be an enhanced armor piercing shell. Dumb ass I told you to get her on the transport, now get moving." Alan barked as Bobby finally seemed to wake up and picked Jubilee up as Jean used her powers to protect them.

Meanwhile the Master watched the excitement as his small group didn't even bother moving. When the guards finally started to fall back after being thoroughly routed by the group, the man narrowed his eyes seeing his precious ambush falling to pieces. Motioning for Gauntlet, the Master was handed a laptop with a programmed labeled sentinel control system running on it.

'Odin was right; Deadpool hasn't attacked their reinforcements or captured the girl yet. Something isn't right with this situation; Deadpool should have attacked them by now and caught the girl. Hmm I suppose testing the sentinels is the only thing left to do. At least all of my sacrifices won't be a total waste after allowing so much of Xavier and allies plan to occur without even the slightest of hitch. ' the Master thought as he tried again to telepathically find Deadpool, only to fail.

"You two, go prepare my plane for the trip. Have my elite guards retrieve Mystique and Reaper, and then order our troops to evacuate the facility." the Master started as he pressed a few buttons on the laptop. "Now my sentinels, lets see how powerful you really are. If Xavier wants those four then he can have them after paying me by showing me how effective my newly designed sentinels are."

"As you wish, let's go." Gauntlet stated as Omega Red and Gauntlet left the man and he pressed the final button to activate the program.

Inside the transport truck Bobby and Jubilee had entered the back of the transport as Leah finally received the signal to go. Putting the vehicle into drive, Leah pushed the gas pedal down as the truck barreled out of the garage. The other group members had made a path for her as she continued to pick up speed before ramming through a fence and driving off to the landing site.

"Well she finally got out of here and it looks like they are like retreating." Shadowcat spoke a tone of excitement in her voice as a loud sound was heard coming from the base.

"Um Alan, that vouldnt happen to be from something you did. Bitte, zay it was you." Nightcrawler spoke as everyone looked in that direction.

Alan ran over to a jeep that the guards had left hoping to use a 20mm machine gun attached to it before speaking, "It's not me, but there is definitely something odd about that sound. Its sounds almost like a jet engine, but it sounds like it's a lot more powerful then that. Brace yourselves, I don't know what that sound is but it definitely isn't good."

As the group began to take off something they had never expected to happen literally occurred. Seven of the smaller sentinel models that they had faced before literally flew out of the factory and landed directly in front of them. To make matters worse however, the largest sentinel they had ever seen also proceeded to land in front of them. This larger one had massive black armor and seemed to have twin laser cannons on it shoulders. To Scott and some of the other X-men, the massive sentinel was just like the one that Trask had released a few years back with the exception of the color and the new weapons.

Alan just stared at the big one his mouth slightly open in shock before speaking, "Damn, I didn't know you could build sentinels that big. That thing needs it own damn zip code, oh well, you build it I blow it up. Why mess with a good thing?"

"Funny Alan, you got any ideas that don't involve us going out in a blaze of glory? I really don't want my gravestone to read got killed when stepped on by a giant robot." Odin asked, the two good friends tended to share a very sarcastic and dark humor when situations were grim.

"Somehow giant ass sentinels just never made it into the training manual, guess I'll have to write a new chapter later for this one. I do have something that might be useful, but that all depends on how fast that flirting jackass gets it here." Alan answered a sarcastic tone in his voice as he pointed the machine gun at the largest sentinel.

"Great our lives our in the hands of Cutter, he would flirt with any girl he comes across on the way here. Not very reassuring, but I have a feeling he'll make it just in time." Odin spoke as he gathered energy to launch an attack.

"Halt Mutants," the largest sentinel spoke as it scanned the area. "Mutant hostiles detected, moving into assault programming. One minor human target detected, threat level minimum."

"Threat level minimum, I just got insulted by a bucket of bolts. You want to play trump cards huh, well that's just fucking fine with me." Alan yelled as he activated his microphone. "Cutter, bring me the ASWS ASAP, I got a giant can opener that needs to learn who the fuck it just pissed off."

Odin and Cyclops merely glanced at each and nodded together before both combined their energy attacks. A massive steam of ruby energy and the usual bluish color of energy Odin used combined as everyone watched the attack land on the biggest machine. As the attack dissipated, everyone couldn't believe their eyes as the large machine was still standing with only minor damage on it. At that moment Alan opened fire, bullets spewing into the machine only to bounce off it harmlessly.

"Break up into small groups and attack the smaller sentinels. Colossus and Odin, you're with me. We're going after the big one; the rest of you got the small fries. Red, send a message to Storm that we need that back up now." Wolverine growled as everyone even Cyclops obeyed his order.

Everyone quickly broke down into smaller groups as the small sentinels began their attack. They ignored Alan as the small group of sentinels began to attack the mutants. Laser fire, containment gel, and even missiles were being used by the robots. What was a bigger surprise was that the sentinels were using basic tactics to cut off and surround small numbers; in fact Jean, X-23, and Forge were their first targets.

"We have to move faster, before they catch us or worse." Jean stated as she used a telekinetic shield to protect her and Forge from an attack.

X-23 growled before she charged forward unleashing her claws into the back of a sentinel. Stabbing into the first sentinel with her claws, she let gravity due the rest as she slashed down the machine's back opening two gaping holes. The effect didn't last as the sentinel activated its defenses and released a large amount of electricity into her body.

"This isn't going well; these things are a lot stronger then last time." Jean spoke as both looked up seeing dark storm clouds beginning to gather in the sky.

"We have to get out of this before we're totally surrounded." X-23 growled as the slightly damaged smaller sentinel and another began to surround them.

The three watched as the one X-23 damaged earlier raised its arms to fire the lasers built into it but the attack never came from it. Alan had made it just in time, tossing two explosive grenades into the openings that she had created causing it to explode. Pieces of metal rained down as Alan chuckled before dodging a laser blast from the undamaged model. The other model was dealing with a rather hefty attack from Jean, who was holding her own against the machine. She used her telekinetic powers to toss a sharp piece of the first sentinel through the second one, impaling it and causing it to fall apart from her attack.

"What do you know, guess they don't build sentinels like they used to. At least the smaller ones any way, you three okay?" Alan asked as he made a small joke and took a seat on the ground to catch his breath.

"We're fine; maybe we should be asking you that. You look tired and you smell of blood and sweat." X-23 growled as the man merely ruffled her hair in a playful manner.

"Don't worry kid, I'm okay. Just having trouble actually fighting these damn things, impervious to bullets and so far the only way to get them is by blowing them up from the inside." Alan started as the group dove down to avoid another laser blast. "Damn, can't even catch a breath after destroying two of the damn things. Wish Cutter would hurry up or there might not be any one to give the thing to when he gets here."

As the others fought the smaller sentinels, Odin, Wolverine, and Colossus spent their time fighting a 4 or 5 story tall machine. The larger sentinel seemed uninterested in aiding the smaller sentinels while focusing on the three that attacked it. Odin would shield the two from the twin laser cannons while Wolverine and Colossus would go in close. The problem was however that the robot was so large that they were barely inflicting damage. Slash marks were on the lower parts of the leg from Wolverine and Colossus had actually pierced the chest area by throwing a tree into it, but otherwise the machine was fully functional.

"Comrade, I don't think this is going as well as it should be." Colossus stated as the sentinel fired the massive laser cannon again.

Odin quickly placed his barrier in front of them before speaking, "You're telling me, I can absorb this energy with my shield, but it's quickly adjusting to that tactic. Playing the defensive just isn't going to be enough to take this damn thing down."

The twin cannons fired two energy beams at the barrier, but the attacks were just absorbed into the barrier again. Odin took a deep breath as he let the barrier down; it was taking a lot out of him to stay on the defensive after a rough fight with Reaper. Hope was on the horizon though as dark cloud began to gather a bolt of lightening nailed the large target. Storm let loose on the target a giant vortex of wind starting to form as she attempted to blow the large sentinel away.

"I'm sorry that we are late, it took a while to get everyone here in one piece. The others are helping to deal with the smaller sentinels." Storm spoke as her eyes flashed in anger.

"Good, give me a lift up. Odin and Colossus, cover us while we try something." Wolverine barked as Storm grabbed his hand and flew up into the air.

Odin merely fired a blast of energy towards the face of the sentinel before responding, "I'll do what I can, but you better make this quick. I'm running out of juice and bullets aren't exactly useful against this thing."

Storm flew up with Wolverine in her grasp before flying high enough in the air so she could drop him onto the sentinel. Unleashing his fury upon the machine, he stabbed at the neck as the machine released a massive version of the electric defense that the smaller version had shown. Wolverine felt thousands of volts of electricity as he started to lose consciousness and proceeded to fall off the machine only to be caught by a diving Storm. Colossus charged through pushing a leg of the machine and forcing it off balance so the two could get to a safe distance.

"Logan," Storm started as she felt a pulse but he had failed to respond to her voice. "Odin, he's out for a little while until he heals. We need a plan, this just isn't working."

"Yes and I'm working on that but so far I haven't come up with a solid plan that doesnt result in casualties.." Odin replied as a blast from Cyclops' forced the machine back.

"Glad to see your all okay, we managed to get rid of all the smaller sentinels. I guess this one isn't going to be as easy to stop." Cyclops stated as the large machine started scanning all of the signatures that were appearing before it.

It fired a large shell of green stasis gel before speaking, "Increase in the number of mutant signatures detected. All supporting units disabled. Activating advanced battle programming."

"We'll try to take him down with a combined attack from Odin, Storm, Berserker and myself." Cyclops ordered as the three he mentioned prepared to fire their own attack.

Odin, Cyclops, Storm, and Berserker fired a combined blast of their power at the massive sentinel. They could hear the metal beginning to buckle as the metal finally buckled and they managed to damage the outer armor. Pieces of metal fell from the machine as it still managed to continue to function despite the combined attack from the four mutants. A large explosion followed on the chest plate as Alan fired his last remaining grenades at the large machine.

"This is becoming a problem maybe we should have Shadowcat phase inside and disable it internally. There isn't much I can do against a machine like that with my powers." Dani commented as the monster sentinel started to advance towards them again.

"No, we aren't for sure what would happen if we did that. It might have some kind of internal defense as well." Cyclops replied as everyone was trying to come up with ideas.

The machine began to charge its lasers again as Odin and Cyclops worked together to attempt to disable the weapon. Firing all the energy he had left combined with Cyclops' blast, the results were spectacular as the weapon was destroyed right when it was about to fire. A massive explosion occurred as the twin cannons seemed to self destruct, but what surprised everyone even more was the fact the large sentinel had activated some kind of program that separated it from the weapon before it could cause major damage.

"How did it know to do that?" Cyclops asked as Odin fell down to one knee.

"Like it must have some kind of self survival programming that enabled it to do something like that in order to survive. It lost its major weapon though, but how are we going to stop it now?" Shadowcat responded as everyone started to gather together, Cyclops helping Odin back, as they moved into a defensive formation.

'This thing it just keeps coming despite all of the damage we've managed to inflict. There has to be some way to stop this thing now before it gets even worse. The only thing I can think of now is to retreat and get out of here before we get seriously hurt.' Cyclops thought as the lumbering giant started to move forward.

"We're going to make a run for it; I'm out of ideas to use against this thing. Unless any of you have a suggestion that we could use to stop this thing. Storm, could you please create a fog for us and then we can all get out of here." Cyclops spoke as a couple of bolts of lightening hit the giant sentinel.

Storm flew up a bit higher in the air before responding, "I can handle that, get ready."

It only took a minute before a large and dense fog began to roll into the area. All of them disappearing in the fog as they made their escape as the giant sentinel just stood there for a moment. The next thing everyone heard was a loud clicking sound as the right arm of the sentinel transformed into another laser weapon, and its eyes began glowing, a bright red color. Odin and Alan looked up at the machine both of them knowing exactly what the machine was using.

"Alan is it possible that this thing…no way, I never thought this thing would be equipped with infrared vision. What do we do now?" Odin asked as the group finally left the base, everyone was trying to make it to the forest for cover.

Alan dove down as the sentinel fired another laser blast before speaking, "I have something but damn it, Cutter is taking his sweet time getting here. I swear to god if he's flirting with someone I'll kill him."

"I'll contacted the Professor and tell him to have things ready to go as soon as we arrived there. The problem is getting there, I don't know if everyone can keep this up." Cyclops stated as he turned his head glancing at the exhausted form of Forge and Shadowcat. "This thing that Cutter is supposedly bringing, do you think it can stop this thing?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure that jackass never thought of the weakness that we did when we built this thing. The only problem is that our lives our in the hands of the flir…" Alan began when he suddenly stopped noticing that Cutter had finally made an appearance.

Cutter was wearing a silver color backpack with a cord attached to a long barrel weapon that covered his right arm. Standing there slightly, he pressed a few buttons as a targeting indicator appeared in his state of the art helmet. The long barrel began to sizzle as electricity began to build up in the weapon, inside the weapon a ball of electromagnetic energy was preparing to fire.

"Anti-Sentinel Weapon System, ASWS for short, designed to eliminate sentinels by frying their computer components. It releases a massive electromagnetic pulse to disable all electronic devices, the pride and joy of the first weapon development lab at NRI." Alan spoke softly as Cutter aimed the weapon and pulled the trigger.

All anyone saw was a massive blast of light as the blast collided with the sentinel. The machine's eyes faded to black as it just started to fall over due to the fact that the computers keeping the machine stable were no longer keeping it standing up. Everyone ran away as the falling machine fell, trees crumbling under the weight until it finally slammed into the ground. A loud cheer emerged as the massive sentinel had finally been beaten.

"Okay, let's get back to the site before anything else happens." Cyclops ordered as everyone even Alan agreed with that sentiment.

A good distance away at a heavily modified cargo plane, the Master watched his new toy with much interest. The man couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed and shocked when the powerful sentinel that he had designed had been disabled. Sighing slightly he watched as all of his men and servants boarded the plane. Reaper had been brought aboard by some guards and Mystique had returned a bit later.

'I have to admit Xavier that I knew you would come for them. I baited you perfectly and still we have failed in the goals I had planned out. The four members of the Brotherhood are a loss, but this new data and my plans for future recruits will more then compensate for that loss. Besides I got what I needed from them and due to the treatments, they slowly lost their independence. They have no will of their own and thanks to Xavier's interference; I couldn't give them any orders. It had to be done that way but I can see now that the method has flaws when the subjects resist unlike willing subjects like Reaper.' the Master thought as parts of his base started to explode.

"Sir, can I ask why you didn't allow us to fight little bastards." Omega Red spoke a heavy Russian accent coming from his mouth.

"Our goal for this operation failed so I decided to use this chance to test my new sentinels. Having them fight against Xavier and his students has given us very valuable data. We will easily be able to recover from this little assault and have gained valuable data on our opponents as well." the Master began as a guard walked over to him and whispered something to him. "There was no reason to risk valuable allies such as you when there was nothing for us to gain. You will have the opportunity to fight others soon."

"What should we do about Deadpool's failure?" Gauntlet asked as the Master seemed vaguely irritated with the infamous merc with a mouth.

"Hmm, I am upset about this operations failure to capture Moonstar. That being said I will weight my option after I have all of the facts about his failure to follow my plan. He is still a very useful and valuable ally despite this failure and I have a feeling that devil dog had a hand in whatever slowed Deadpool down. That human will make a very dangerous and unpredictable enemy, but his arrival means that they will be openly trying to oppose me from now." the Master muttered as he was slightly irritated as he pulled out a pair of binoculars.

Watching the Blackbird and Velocity take off and leave the area, the Master merely smiled. The two aircraft were well out of range of his voice as they left only for something far worse to occur, his radar site detecting approaching F-22 Raptors. His plane took off the cloak activating just before the US planes could arrive. All he could do was watch the fighter jets as he flew away.

Next chapter: Healing Old Wounds

Alan communicates with his boss the rather disturbing results of the battle with the Master and decides to take Brandon to meet someone in London after they arrive. At the same time, Professor Xavier takes the rescued Brotherhood members to Muir Island hoping that Dr. Moira MacTaggert can help in the treatment of the four.


	32. Helping Hands

**AN: Well I'm a little late on this one but not as late as I have been. I'm feeling a lot better now, but things are really hectic in my life. I have work and a lot of other things that require my attention. Some of you might not like how I did a certain new character in this chapter, but this is how I saw things in my mind. If you don't like it feel free to let me know, but I have good reasons for doing things this way. Any way, I wish every a great week and as always take it easy. **

Hank McCoy stood there hunched over slightly as he checked over Jubilee. The four members of the Brotherhood had been easily placed in the stasis chambers for their own safety and now the man was caring for those that had been injured. Jubilee had been the most urgent case, but fortunately the bullet was easily removed and stitched up. Looking over at the stasis chambers, he watched the four with interest.

"Dr. McCoy, how's Jubilee doing?" Bobby asked solemnly as the older man twirled around to look at him.

"Ah, Bobby, I didn't hear you enter this area. She'll be just fine, but she'll have a scar from the wound. Its unfortunate but the probability of being able to heal all wounds does worry me." Hank answered as the two walked slowly over to a bed were she was resting peacefully.

Bobby looked at her sleeping form before speaking, "This is my fault, and I can't believe how stupid I was acting. I guess those three were right about me, I really messed up on this one. How could I possibly…"

"Its good to see you are finally starting to grow up some Bobby, but this isn't completely your fault. Battles always have some injuries, but the key is that you live and learn from this incident." Hank started as he patted the young man on the back to reassure him. "You've learned a lot from this and that's very important. I'm sure she isn't going to hold this against you, but that doesn't mean you're out of the woods so to speak. Professor Xavier, Scott, and Brandon all want to talk to you about this."

"Yeah I know, but I've been thinking about this ever since and some things are starting to make sense to me. I'll take any punishment they give me, but it won't be happening any time soon. I'm such an idiot, but it will never happen again." Bobby replied as his face seemed to show a serious and deeply reflective side for once.

'A lot of things are making sense to me now; I can't believe how dumb I've been acting. Ever since I got promoted to the X-men, I've been acting like a total ass. It doesn't help that I now know something I should have realized a lot sooner. Jubilee likes me, when I think back she wanted to go out with me and now I feel even worse about it because I was so completely ignorant about it.' Bobby thought as Hank left him to his thoughts to check on the stasis tanks.

The back area of the Blackbird had almost been completely overhauled to handle the four tanks and a small infirmary. The four tanks were lined against the right hull of the plane while the makeshift infirmary was in the middle of the group. On the left hull were the monitoring equipment and a rather large computer set up that was used when away from the mansion. Sitting at the computer silently however was Alan; the man had been listening but had remained quiet as he went through data they had stolen from the Master.

'The lab data will come in handy, but Dr. McCoy and the Professor will have to go through that. This financial data however, it shows some major things happening. I'm going to have to look into Fisk's role in this and I think I can track were the funding to get this stuff is coming from. First though I better contact her, she won't be pleased with this.' Alan thought as he scrolled down the data and finally minimized the window before accessing the communication array.

A blurry face appeared on the computer screen before speaking, "CS central command, please state your identity and authorization code."

"Major Alan Fitzgerald, authorization code A20E19Z001. I want you to transfer this signal to the director's private office." Alan answered quickly as he waited for the transfer.

"Yes sir, please hold on for a moment sir. On a personal note sir, it's good to hear from you again." the voice spoke as the communication blurred slightly as it was transferred.

"Major, I can't say I didn't expect you to communicate sooner. It's good to see you again, but is this line secure. I don't want any unauthorized person seeing my face." the woman spoke as Alan listened carefully.

"You don't have to worry; I've taken care of everything. The only person around is Dr. McCoy and I'm using that program to block out your face. I'm sorry it has taken so long to contact you boss, but this isn't a social call." Alan started as he double checked to make sure the program was still blocking her face. "I had a run in with the Master, he knows about Centra Spike. To make matters worse though he knows about you, and I think he knows the truth about me as well. He's also made a lot of interesting changes to the sentinels, but you'll have to read the report to believe it."

"This wasn't completely unexpected but for him to know the entire truth, you know what that means. Our worse fears may be realized because of this one man. I had hoped he wouldn't go this far, but just in case I sent Bravo team to watch over Indian One discreetly during this mission." She began as her voice became shaky for a moment before continuing. "I'll want a full report on the situation ASAP and also on that note I need you to return in four days. I believe that its time we started to focus more on the Master and the growing threat that he represents. I'm going to be delaying missions against other targets so we can focus more on him."

Alan grunted slightly before responding, "Bravo team huh, I should have known you would pull something like that, but I guess you had no choice. It was a good call; we still don't know why he's so obsessed with capturing Moonstar. All I have to say it's about time that we got serious against this guy. I really hate paperwork but I'll put a rush on that report. In the meantime, I've transmitted a preliminary report for you to look at while I prepare the final one. In my opinion Brandon is our best ally in this fight and there is someone I would like him to meet. I'll just say the name of Betsy and that's all I'll say about it."

"Hmm, I trust your expert opinion without a single doubt. Otherwise you wouldn't be allowed so much freedom when it comes to a few things. Your data transmission has arrived and I admit it is very disturbing, I see I'll have to confront the Joint Chiefs with absolute certainty. We will continue this conversation at another point; in the meantime, I also give you permission to tell Brandon about Centra Spike and its true functions, if at all possible I would like to hire him for a few jobs in the future or at least discuss the possibility in person of an alliance. You can do that at your discretion Major, but make it sooner rather than later. Also use my other name, Haley when referring to me." Haley spoke as she pressed the button to disconnect her from the conversation causing the screen to go black.

Alan merely nodded as he touched a few buttons and the communication ended just as quickly as it began. Tapping a few more buttons, Alan brought up the recently retrieved data again. Deciding he needed a break, he pulled out a small flask of whiskey taking a few sips before walking away to find Leah to continue the work.

'Well it seems she wants to get more proactive on this one, I understand why but damn this isn't going to be easy. I doubt Brandon will work for her, but the reasoning is sound. Oh well whoever said it would be definitely lied their ass off.' Alan thought as he walked to the front and tapped Leah on the shoulder motioning for her to get to work on the data.

Three hours later both aircraft had finally arrived at Muir Island after a long and drawn out flight. Most of the students had spent the time sleeping or recovering from the battle while a few stayed up to help. As Professor Xavier rolled down the ramp of the Blackbird, he smiled as Dr. Moira MacTaggert walked out to meet them. Her red hair seemed to flutter slightly in the wind as she walked over to the man and gave him a warm welcoming hug. The place itself was quite large as a large plain white building was in view with a few lab buildings connected to it.

"Charles, it's been so long since you've last paid me a visit. Fortunately I've already prepared for your arrival, my staff and I have medical rooms prepared for the four that you have brought me." Moira started as she noticed some of his students getting off the plane. "We have a lot of things to offer here at Muir Island, but it might be best if you learned them for yourselves. I apologize for being rude, but these four require my assistance right away."

"That's quite fine Moira, Hank will help you get things settled and deal with the transport. I'm afraid that he may be slightly overworked however, so please do your best." Charles spoke as Brandon walked over to them.

"Please forgive me for interrupting, but a few things have come up. Dr. MacTaggert, if it's okay with you, I'm going to have Cutter and Hammer check out your security system and make changes if necessary. It also seems I need to make a trip to London, Alan is pretty adamant about me meeting someone. If it's okay with you Professor, I would like to take a few people along with me just in case." Brandon requested as Moira looked at the young man and smiled slightly in response.

"That's a good idea; I would appreciate your help with our security system. Charles has told me all about his students and I understand that your background and that of your friends could be very helpful in that area." Moira stated as Charles nodded in agreement.

Charles took a moment to think before speaking, "I agree and I want you to take Jean with you on your trip to London. You'll be in charge but she will be a great help to you, I'll also have Forge help Hammer and Cutter adjust the security. Before you go however could you talk to Cutter about his behavior it is very disturbing to some of the others."

"I understand, I'll have Leah deal with him, she'll keep him in line. Also, Alan wanted me to give this data to you; he stole it from their labs and thought it might be useful in treating the Brotherhood. We couldn't understand it but I'm sure it will make sense to all of you." Brandon replied as his anger seemed to build, he knew exactly what Cutter had done, before handing the Professor the data.

"I see it seems Alan is much more talented than even I first thought. Thank you Brandon and give Alan our thanks as well. When you get back could you have Alan come talk with me, I would like to ask him to do a favor for me. Please excuse us but we need to get started right away." Professor Xavier spoke as he watched the first tank being unloaded.

Hank, Logan, Scott, and Piotr were carefully moving the first tank out of the Blackbird. The first tank had Wanda in it as they slowly moved it and Dr. MacTaggert motioned for them to follow her into the building. Professor Xavier followed them inside as the remaining students took a seat on the ground and began to talk amongst themselves. Walking over to Jean, Brandon took a seat next to her on the ground.

"Hey, I know your tired, but the Professor wanted you to come with me on a little side trip. Honestly if you want to stay here with Scott, I completely understand, but well if you could come that would be great." Brandon whispered as he brought his knees to his chest and leaned forward.

Jean sighed slightly before responding, "Of course I'll come along with you, but could I make a suggestion. You should really bring Rogue along, I've noticed the two of you aren't exactly the best of friends and well the two of you should get to know each other better."

"Well I wouldn't say we aren't friends, but yeah I guess we don't talk a lot with each other. Thanks for your advice, I'll take her along for this one but only if she wants to come along. She doesn't scare me but…" Brandon started as he leaned back and lay on the ground. "I feel bad for her and well I get the feeling she doesn't want anyone's pity. We may not talk a lot with each other and I have no idea how it feels to be like her, but that's how I would want things done."

"That's probably right, but I don't make a habit of prying into other peoples' minds. I try hard to give people their privacy except when they broadcast their thoughts to the points I can't ignore them. Well you better get their attention so they'll know whose going." Jean commented as he nodded in agreement.

Firing a small energy blast into the air, everyone looked at the small explosion before looking over at him. Everyone was watching him as he stood up and prepared to make his announcement.

"Okay I know most of you are probably still tired but I was wondering if a few of you could come with me on a little mission. Dani, Jaime, Rogue, and Amara; I need you four to come with Alan, Jean, and I on a short trip to London. Also before I go, I wanted to tell all of the New Mutants how proud I am of their performance. All of you performed far above the expectations that I had of you and because of this you are going to have a few days off with no training. We will start training again in 3 days, so enjoy your time off." Brandon announced as the New Mutants in the group celebrated the success of the mission.

"Alright no training, lets have a little alone time Sammy boy." Tabby spoke excitedly as she grabbed her boyfriend's left arm and started to drag him away. "Have fun in London, Mara, you're so lucky."

"I would be happy to go with you Brandon, but I don't know how useful I'll be on this little trip." Dani replied as she stood up and walked over to him being joined by Jaime and Amara.

Rogue seemed slightly annoyed before replying, "Ah guess Ah could go, but why are we gonna go there?"

"We're going to meet someone that might be a good ally in the future. There won't be any sightseeing on this little trip, we'll meet her and then come back here with her." Alan answered for him as all Brandon knew was they were going to meet someone.

"So who are we going to meet and why?" Dani asked getting straight to the heart of the matter.

"Walk and talk kid, we got places to be and not a lot of time. I wish we weren't in such a rush, but I've got places to be, seems my services are in high demand as of late." Alan started as the small group boarded the Blackbird and prepared it for take off. "We're meeting a woman named Betsy Braddock; I met her the first time a couple of years ago during a little incident involving the Hand, they are a criminal group akin to the mob, which has operations in Asia. She's got an attitude on her and she's a mutant as well. Her powers well lets just say she can make psychic daggers, a telepath, and by now she's probably got a few other tricks as well."

"Okay anything else we should know about her?" Jean asked as she started to power up the Blackbird and made sure everyone was clear as they took off.

Alan sat there in a chair rubbing his chin before speaking, "Nothing comes to mind at least for now any way."

As the Blackbird left for London, the inside of Dr. MacTaggert's lab was buzzing with activity. Moira was checking vital signs as they started to slowly remove the four from the stasis chambers and into specifically modified medical beds. Medical instruments beeped and buzzed as Dr. McCoy ran some checks while Professor Xavier went over the data Alan had retrieved for them.

"Well physically despite their dependence on these drugs, they are in great shape. Their mental health however has me very worried, getting them off of these drugs and restoring their minds is going to take a lot of work." Moira spoke as she used the latest in medical technology to run a scan on Lance's brain.

"I agree with your assessment, but it seems we have even more problems then we anticipated. There is very little brainwave activity and to make matters worse, it would seem they all have high levels of an unknown chemical in their bloodstream." Dr. McCoy spoke as she looked over the test results. "Your lab technology is very advanced; remind me to take notes on it later. We could use some of it back at the institute."

Professor Xavier was working on the computer when he finally found what he was looking for in the data. An exact list of every drug the four were on and the exact dosage given to them. Each one had specific drugs given to them especially Wanda, who it seemed also received an additional dosage of birth control drugs. Printing out the list, he grabbed it before slowly wheeling himself over to his two friends. He looked over at the four rescued individuals; it had taken some time to change them into medical gowns.

"Well I have good news; we have an exact list of dosages and drugs. Unfortunately some of them appear to be highly experimental and I have no doubt that the Master also used his telepathic capabilities on them as well. This should make treating them a little easier. The effects of being captured, drugged, and who knows what else means that they are in for a long recovery." Professor Xavier spoke as he handed each of them the list so they could read it for themselves.

"True and I'm very concerned about what happened to them, occasionally prisoners of war or captives will literally shut down like this to keep from reliving horrible memories. We have no idea what there experiences were while they were with this guy that captured them." Moira replied as she thought about the psychological ramifications of what happened to them.

Hank looked over the list slowly as he spoke, "This list of drugs is incredible, I haven't even heard of a few of these drugs. This is going to make coming up with an effective treatment and ways to deal with their withdrawal symptoms much more difficult."

"My, my, I'll have to contact all of my medical contacts and friends to figure out what all of these drugs do. That is unless there are some files about their purpose and composition in the data that you have." Moira started as she took Todd's blood pressure. "Physically speaking, you would be hard pressed to find people in better shape. They've been trained hard and at least given the basic necessities."

It was only a few minutes later and almost on cue, to confirm the beginning of their withdrawal symptoms as one after another the group began to convulse and shake. Moans of pain and even a scream from Wanda followed as they were tied down to their beds and the reactions were horrifying. The restraints dug into the four and Wanda had gone as far to dig her nails into her palm causing blood to appear. In order to stop Wanda or the others from hurting themselves, Hank and Moira had grabbed some tranquilizers and were carefully positioning themselves to inject the four.

"Oh my I can't believe how harsh their reactions are…Charles can't you contact their minds and calm them down that way." Moira barked as she struggled to place the needle in the right place on Blob.

Charles placed his hands on his head reaching out as he spoke, "I'm sorry Moira, but the drugs are still inhibiting their minds and I can't contact them. When the drugs are at least partially out of their system it might be a possibility."

"We'll have to come up with something to dampen or stop their powers until the withdrawal symptoms have ended. I better get Forge; we could use his help to deal with this because we should not continue putting them to sleep." Hank stated calmly as they had finally managed to inject all four of them and the effects of the tranquilizer began to kick in causing them to fall asleep.

"Yes not even my facilities could handle them right now. I have other patients too, and I can ill afford to have them injured further. It would seem that the last physical data you had on them has changed drastically; they've had genetic modifications done. To conduct genetic modifications at this age, it would have been horrifically painful." Moira retorted as she was looking over past medical histories and comparing it with the current data they were getting.

Professor Xavier started to move back to the computer before speaking, "I'll leave their physical health in your hands while I search the database for anything that could be helpful. After you calm them down, I'll try to start the process of healing their minds and hopefully wake up their old personalities."

'It wont be as easy as I say it is however, Wanda had many problems to begin with and now well the problems most likely will be far worse. Eric will most likely want to come here and retrieve these four but that isn't in their best interest right now. I'll have to try and contact him before he finds out or he'll show up here in force in an attempt to get Wanda at the very least. Right now I have to focus on what I'm doing.' Charles thought as he scrolled through the data on the computer.

As the Blackbird flew over London, Alan pushed a few buttons showing Jean the landing site that he had chosen. What surprised Jean was how close it seemed to be to this Betsy's person's home. In fact the site Alan had chosen was a rather large front yard since it seemed this woman was very well off financially. Taking the plane in for a landing, everyone unbuckled their belts as Dani opened the back ramp.

"Whatever you do don't piss her off; she's got quite the temper on her." Alan stated as he walked outside and yawned slightly as they all walked towards the front door.

Dani stopped for a moment to take in the sights before speaking, "This is a very nice home and the garden is very nice as well."

"Guess you weren't kidding when you said she was well off financially on the way here." Brandon replied as he finally got a good view of the house and surrounding grounds.

It was a decent sized mansion and the grounds were clearly well taken care of by someone. A few flowers were in bloom as well as a nice reflecting pond in the middle of the grounds. The house itself was a soft white color as they all finally came to a stop and Alan knocked on the door.

"Bloody hell, what are you doing here?" a woman spoke as the door swung open and she instinctively slapped Alan.

"Nice to see you again too Betsy, glad you missed me. I don't get a hello, just a bloody hell, well you haven't changed much. We need to talk, mind if we come inside." Alan answered as a small red shaped mark appeared on his cheek.

"Fine but who are your friends or colleagues since you never call a person a friend." Betsy barked, she wasn't in the best of moods now.

The others just looked at Betsy Braddock, they weren't expecting this. Standing there in front of them was an Asian woman with long purple hair of all things and brown eyes. It had surprised them because none of them had been expecting this and to make matters more interesting she wore a very short pair of shorts and a tank top. She stood there impatiently waiting as Alan introduced them all and they were finally led inside.

"Well I would say it's nice to meet all of you, but nothing is ever nice when this guy is involved. Nothing but trouble, that's all you are Alan, so let's get right to the point. What's this about exactly?" Betsy spoke getting straight to the point as Alan sighed slightly in response.

Alan took a deep breath deciding what to say before he spoke, "Betsy, why don't you have someone show them around so you and I can talk about this. We have a lot to catch up on and I think you'll be interested in what I have to say."

"Fine, you guys can look around while I talk with dumb ass here. We can talk in the study and in private there." Betsy stated as she walked away and Alan followed her.

"Anyone get the feelin that those two have a history with each other. Ah wonder what's up with those two." Rogue spoke bad memories had surfaced at first until Betsy and Alan had started arguing.

"Do you know anything about this Brandon?" Amara asked as her boyfriend looked around the room.

Brandon looked at a few pictures before responding, "Honestly I don't know, Alan and I are best friend but there are some things we just don't talk about. This probably falls in one of those things he normally doesn't talk about so I'm kind of curious as to why he brought us here now of all times."

"Ah guess we'll just have to wait and see. Ah do admit this is better then sitting around and doin absolutely nothin." Rogue replied as the remaining members took a seat in the living room of Betsy's house.

As the others talked Alan took a seat in a nice comfortable leather chair while Betsy sat across from him. They had chosen the study for their little talk and the room was like a miniature library of sorts. She seemed restless before crossing her legs, the young lady glared at him slightly before offering him a cup of tea. Taking the tea and sitting it down on the table an awkward moment of silence descended over the two as both tried to figure out what to say first.

"Look I know you're pissed at me for leaving the way I did, but you know the line of work that I do. There are times when I don't really have a choice when I get to stay or go. I mean did you really expect me to stay here forever and just give up my work." Alan started as Betsy listened to him carefully. "I haven't forgotten our time together and believe me, I did promise to find a way to fix the problem that you have. I never forget a promise and I haven't stopped bugging them for a solution. It's just something huge has popped up and well I could really use your, well help."

"How do you expect me to react? I mean we dated for two months and then you just disappeared as if you never existed. You broke my heart you bloody bastard and now ya come here asking for help. This better be good or I'll toss your ass out of here." Betsy barked as she struggled to keep her emotions in check.

"After what happened to you, I investigated and tried to find out who was responsible for it besides them. I had to leave in order to investigate and to keep certain people from showing up here and detaining you. During my investigation of a guy I thought might be responsible or have some responsibility, someone else attacked a person I consider like my little brother and killed another person I thought of as family. I want you to look at this disc later on when you have the chance if you don't believe me." Alan retorted as the woman looked at him slightly surprised and shocked about the situation.

Her face said it all as Alan took a sip of the tea. Carefully reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a CD Rom that had data which concerned her on it. Taking the disc, Betsy placed it on the table for her to look at later, after their talk had finished.

"This guy had a hand in what happened to you and well now Brandon could use your strength. I know you've heard of Charles Xavier and I'm not asking you to be one of his students. What I want is for you to work for Brandon, to lend him that power of yours while I continue to push R&D for a solution to your problem. I'll still push for a solution to your problem even if you say no, but if you agree to follow Brandon, there's a possibility of more people helping you. " Alan explained as she took a sip of her own tea.

Betsy placed the cup down her hand almost shaking as she spoke, "So you've been gone all of this time and that's the reason you have for it. I don't really know what to say about this. I don't have a problem following this guy if you trust him, but the big question is what about the two of us."

"Betsy, we both know that relationship wasn't going to last. You know why it wasn't going to, it just…damn I hate things like this because I suck at them. That mission resulted in losses for both of us and we just used each other for the sex and the comfort that the two of us provided for each other. Even you must have realized that by now and how much of a mistake that probably was." Alan replied as she nodded in agreement.

"Bloody hell, you sure know how to make a girl feel special. I don't know if it was a mistake or not, but it happened damn it. I know we both lost things there, you lost almost every member of your squad save one and I lost my original body. This is just aggravating but yeah I guess it would have never worked between us. Does that mean my old body is still…" Betsy spoke as the man nodded in understanding.

"Your original body, the one you had before the Hand switched your mind into this one, is in cryogenic stasis at our main base and before you ask yes she is still stuck inside of you. I really could use your help on this one, you'll like Brandon and if you ever tell him your secret then well I'm sure he'll do everything he can to help you. I won't tell anyone of course but sometimes offering someone an incentive helps. I don't care if you help Xavier or not, his plans don't really concern me, but I want you to help Brandon." Alan replied as Betsy nodded her head in understanding.

'She'll be useful to Brandon, she might not look like it but she used to be a government agent. Thanks to the Hand, she also has the skills and training of an expert assassin. Chances are she will never use them, but fact is she's a skilled fighter. If he's going to win against the Master and Reaper, he's going to need people willing to go the distance.' Alan thought as he silently hoped that Betsy wasn't listening in on him.

Betsy picked up the CD and looked at it before speaking, "Okay I'll lend your friend a hand, you're lucky that I already have things packed due to my traveling habits. You really do care about this guy like a brother so I guess I'll be happy to help him out. There is one condition though; I want to know why you were sent to rescue me."

"I wasn't sent to rescue you and before you ask I can't tell you what my team's original orders were. After realizing the situation, I just couldn't leave you there so we conducted a rescue op after getting permission. The resistance was much stronger then anticipated and we arrived to see them start up their little experiment. I guess in a way I've always felt bad that we arrived too late." Alan replied as she listened to his every word.

Betsy stood up and held the CD carefully as she started to walk away. Alan merely placed his tea cup on the table and left the room taking a passing glance at Betsy. The 22 year old Betsy watched as he took one last look at her before walking back towards the living room were the others were waiting.

"So how did it go Alan?" Jaime asked as Alan yawned and ruffled his hair a little.

"I've done what I can kid, Brandon, the rest of this is in your hands. I've done my part so I'll be waiting on the Blackbird." Alan answered as he just kept on walking and left the house with a blank and drained look on his face.

"Well that was weird, even for him. We haven't known him as long as you have, but that is pretty weird. Do you think he's okay?" Amara asked as her boyfriend stopped his conversation with Rogue to answer.

"I think he will be just fine, he just needs some time alone. Whatever his past is with Ms. Braddock, it's clearly something that was important to him at one time. We should let him be and stay out of this; most likely he can't talk about it anyway because it's classified." Brandon stated as Rogue decided to add her own two cents.

"Yeah well if ya ask me, this Betsy gal is going to be nothin but trouble. I dont know why but she reminds me of Risty." Rogue added slightly uncomfortable about the girl but understanding the two were different people.

Amara noticed the confused look on Brandon's face before whispering, "Risty was a form that Mystique took to get close to Rogue."

The conversation that was about to continue abruptly ended as Betsy walked into the room and slammed two suitcases down on the floor. She had put on a grey sweater and a grey pair of sweatpants but it still did nothing to hide her figure. Taking a look around at the people still in her house, her eyes settled on Jaime and Brandon.

"Well don't just stand there, you two are going to get my luggage. It is the polite thing to do after all since I'm doing all of you such a large favor by joining this little group." Betsy barked her voice having a slightly annoyed tone as the two guys looked at each other.

"Jaime, you don't mind handling this do you?" Brandon asked as the young man merely nodded and created a few clones to get the luggage.

The Jaimes started to pick up the luggage before the original spoke, "Of course getting any luggage she has won't be a problem for me Brandon."

"So you're Brandon, I didn't know what to expect when it came to you. You're kind of cute…" Betsy started as she felt Amara broadcasting some very angry thoughts directed at her. "And it would seem you have a girlfriend as well. That's okay you're not my type any way, its going to be a pleasure working for you. Now let's get out of here."

Brandon looked over at Amara and shook his head before speaking, "Uh okay let's go, we better get back to Muir Island any way."

Twenty minutes later the group had returned to the Blackbird and after a few more minutes the Blackbird finally took off. Betsy just watched as the others seemed completely at ease with the exception of Alan, he seemed to be taking a nap or avoiding her. She tapped her fingers as she thought about a few things until she decided to get to know the others and her new boss so to speak. This was going to be an interesting experience being around so many individuals and him again.

Next Chapter: Broken Shield

The Master moves ahead with his plan to break out Juggernaught and another prisoner out of SHIELD and their state of the art prison. While the Master makes his move, Magneto decides its time to start his new plan.


	33. Broken Shield

**AN: Well I had thought this would be a much easier chapter, but it just wasn't. I've been doing quite a bit of work lately that makes me very happy because well I like money. Any way I'm feeling pretty good so I'm shooting for a quick update for this next chapter maybe friday. Well as always take it easy and enjoy the chapter. Oh and there are only two chapters left but there will still be a sequal. **

* * *

Centra Spike Main Headquarters- Norfolk, Virginia

The silver haired beauty known to many as Haley sighed as she went over her top subordinate's latest report. Sentinels, weapons, and most importantly knowledge that only the highest level of security clearance in the United States had access to in regards to CS. Touching a few buttons a young man entered the rather plainly decorated office, all it had was an usual looking oak desk and two visible state of the art computer systems.

'He knows all about CS which means he definitely knows what I'm trying to accomplish here. I guess we can no longer afford to play with the gloves on, which means I need to have our newest unit move into action.' Haley thought as she played with her long silver hair, it was natural for the young woman to play with it when she became overly nervous or anxious.

"My apologies for having to call you here, but I'm afraid that we have need of your services. I'll be assigning to you to the 2nd Combat Intelligence Division under the command of someone that I think you know very well." Haley started as the young man merely pulled out a cigarette and lit it up. "I would also appreciate it if you wouldn't smoke in my office Mr. Wisdom. I hired you from MI-6 solely because of your reputation but smoking in my office will not be tolerated."

The young man had curly black hair and sullen brown eyes as he looked at the woman that was now giving him orders. He shrugged slightly as he snuffed out his cigarette, glaring slightly as the woman stood up revealing a short frame and the black shirt and skirt that she was wearing. Walking over to him she handed him a piece of paper with an access code before returning to her seat.

"My apologies ma'am, but do I really have to work under that lunatic. I would much rather do this on my own, he isn't even…" Pete Wisdom started as the woman slammed her small hand down hard on the desk.

"I understand you and Alan Fitzgerald have issues, but you can and will work on his team. This isn't optional Mr. Wisdom, you can either fall in line or I can send you back to MI-6. There are only two men in this building that can operate in the manner you want and you aren't one of them. Alan is my best agent, so fall in line or you should get the hell out of my building." Haley replied interrupting the man rather rudely, he had a habit of annoying almost everyone he met.

"Having to work with that guy again this is just great. Got to wonder what the hell I did to deserve…" Pete started complaining until he noticed the glaring women and decided to leave the office.

'That man is just so infuriating, but I need him in order to make this work. I better check on the progression of things, we need to finish transferring our headquarters to the Leviathan. Glad Admiral Pike realizes the real threat that this man is going to be, he's really going out on a limb by loaning it out to us.' Haley thought as she pressed a button on her computer monitor.

On the screen was a huge submarine but this submarine was very different compared to others. The very top of the sub could split open revealing a landing deck for aircraft; this was the world's first fully functional submersible aircraft carrier. It was also heavily armed with the latest weapons including torpedoes, missiles, laser weapons, and a few other surprises that had been installed after receiving Alan's first report on the Master's sentinels, capabilities, and weapons.

'This Master has bases all around the globe it seems, and he also seems to be a master tactician. We have to take the fight to him which means we need a headquarters that can also be more hands on. Right now the Leviathan is the best we can do until I can convince the President that we need a headquarters like the one SHIELD has at its disposal.' Haley thought as she watched supplies and personnel moving in and out of the submarine.

"Ma'am sorry to interrupt you, but Major Fitzgerald has left again." a voice from the intercom on her desk spoke as the woman started to grit her teeth in frustration.

"Don't tell me, he did it again. Please don't tell me he did it again." Haley spoke as she ran out of her office and down the complicated mess of hallways to Alan' office.

She flung the door open glaring at the incredibly large pile of paper work that Alan was supposed to fill out before leaving again. On top of the stack was a small post it note with the words note to self buy larger paper shredder because the last one broke. Walking out of the office she slammed the door shut causing a couple of mounds of paper that had been cleverly hidden on a shelf above the door to collapse and fall onto the floor.

"Someone find that man; check every bar between here and Bayville. I don't care if you have to drag him back here kicking and screaming, he isn't leaving until he finishes every damn bit of paperwork. I swear you can send him anywhere in the world to fight anything from mutants, evil dictators, terrorist, or demons but he runs away from paper work of all things. Damn, stupid, ugh…" Haley muttered as she stomped down the hallway as CS personnel quickly moved out of the way.

It had been three days since the lost of the research facility and the Master was still in a foul mood about the situation. Even with his powers the man had failed to count on a viral computer attack coming from within his own computer systems. The virus had caused more damage and gave him more grief. The other problem was the fact that Deadpool had failed to act in the previous battle which angered the powerful man more then most of his servants realized. Sitting in a building he owned in New York, the man was surrounded by computer screens as he tasted a fine red wine.

"I'm sorry sir, but we are fortunate the virus was contained before it arrived at the main base. That being said however, we've lost a lot of data. In particular our research data seems to have been specifically targeted, we've lost most of the cloning data that we have gathered and we lost all data concerning Dani Moonstar from her time when she was captured." a man spoke clothed in a white lab coat.

"It is quite the setback that Xavier and his little students have caused. I know it was those former marines that caused this though, Xavier would have focused solely on the Brotherhood. Only trained professionals would do this, I have made a mistake that only rookies make, I underestimated my opponents. This underestimation has a very high cost it seems, however, not everything was a total loss." the Master responded as he shook his drink slightly.

"Yes sir, but the good news is the data on the new sentinel is very promising. A shame the large ones are overly expensive to build though, but we have enough small ones to begin in a less technologically advanced area." the scientist commented as he was offered a glass of wine as well.

"True and we will very soon. In the meantime, I want you and your colleagues to look at making some more improvements to Reaper. Have proposals waiting for me upon my return." the Master started as he left the room and walked into an open warehouse like area. "Omega Red, you'll be accompanying me to the SHIELD prison since Reaper is incapacitated. I don't expect anything out of Gauntlet for a while; he has another task to keep him occupied."

Omega Red seemed to smile as he spoke, "Da, I don't have a problem with that, and I need some action."

Mystique joined the two along with about 5 squads of armed troopers that seemed to be accompanying them. The armored men didn't say much of anything as they took their seats. As the plane took off it shimmered slightly before disappearing thanks to its cloaking device, SHIELD would have no idea what was about to happen to its state of the art prison.

'Let us begin so that my plan can finally start taking shape. Soon I will come out into the open and my greatest dream will be realized. First I must set these two free, Juggernaught will be welcome muscle, but I must have that last one. This shall be the final blow for Fury; the loss of that one will be the end of him. I need that last one, but there is someone else I will also have to recruit. Mystics can rarely be beaten except by one of their own kind and I have the perfect person in mind to aid me against that life draining bitch Selene.' the Master thought as he knew the trip to the prison would take less then an hour.

In his newest telepathically shielded base in Montana, this is where the Acolytes had managed to make their new home. Magneto watched and listened to events from around the world. His new acolytes were working out very well and were mixing well with his old members. That being said however he had his eyes on a few other individuals to help make his new plan a reality. Retrieving his daughter was on the top of his list but now there was something else on his list as he watched the US national news.

"This is Olivia Ramirez reporting from Washington DC, the group known as Friends of Humanity launched a protest calling for something to be done about the rising number of mutants showing up in the population. The key note speaker being a man named Creed; he went on to talk about how humanity must act in order to survive what he calls the mutant menace." Olivia started as she paused for a moment to catch her breath. "The White House released a statement saying they are considering their options but still believe that mutants and humans can coexist peacefully. They will continue working on a peaceful solution and urge the public not to aggravate the situation."

"Hmm I knew this Friends of Humanity group wouldn't believe in peaceful coexistence. I told Charles that humans would never allow us to exist peacefully. I find it hard to believe…" he muttered only to stop when the report continued.

"As a show of their loyalty, members of the group have been spotted attacking mutants across the city. The city police force is overworked as it is and hasn't been able to keep up with the increasing number of reports. Also only one hospital is accepting mutants as patients. The President has ordered a navy hospital ship to the area in order to help deal with the mounting number of injuries. This is Olivia Ramirez for World News Service reporting, I'll have another report on this issue in 24 hours." Olivia finished as Magneto shook his head in disgust, he knew something like this would happen.

'This is all the more reason for me to finish my new plan so I can implement it quickly. Now I know exactly what I have to do, but first I must do something about this Friends of Humanity group. I think a message is in order for these assaults, these foolish humans must learn their place. We are the superior species of this planet and the future of this world.' Magneto thought as he used his powers to lift up a computer monitor.

"Please forgive my intrusion Lord Magneto, but we have remained idle for a while now." Exodus started as his larger form seemed to come into view. "There are mumblings among one of the lower members that you are losing your touch my lord. He claims you are afraid of this man called the Master, I informed him otherwise but my lord actions speak louder then words."

Magneto motioned for Exodus to take a seat in a metallic chair, the room in his base was hollow and with metallic furniture with the exception of Magneto's own chair. Leaning back in his chair Magneto looked at Exodus carefully, the man's loyalty to him was beyond reproach which was a surprising contrast to the traitorous Mystique. Mystique however had not been seen at all since Apocalypse despite his best efforts to find the shape shifter.

Magneto glanced at Exodus before speaking, "Exodus, who is this person that is acting this way?"

"My lord its Pyro, he claims you have lost your touch and that he is bored from the lack of action. I informed his comments were wrong, but he says you haven't taken action like you usually would. I would be happy to deal with him for you my lord." Exodus answered as Magneto chuckled slightly in response.

"No that won't be necessary, Pyro always acts that way when he is bored. Normally I wouldn't allow such things to be spoken, but he is right I have been very quiet as of late. Tell him, that he will get his wish. I have a few things for him to do; he won't be bored any longer." Magneto spoke as he pressed a button on his chair and called for Pyro and Sabertooth to join him.

"Of course my lord, I am as always happy to help you in any way you deem necessary my lord. Also my lord, Mastermind has finally made a full recovery from his incident at Xavier's place." Exodus spoke as the two waited for the others to join them.

"Excellent, good telepaths are hard to find. It would be very difficult to find a new telepath to replace him. Particularly with his skill set not every telepath can implant false memories with such precision." Magneto began as the door slid open as Pyro and Sabertooth entered the room. "I have a mission for the two of you. I hear you've been bored Pyro so you should enjoy this assignment. However, you are not to engage any mutants whatsoever. Are we clear?"

"Fine unless the runt is involved, I make no promises there. Few other people I wouldn't mind fighting either." Sabertooth growled as he eagerly awaited his own rematch with Wolverine.

Pyro jumped up and down like a little kid before replying, "Bout time I got some action. Things here are just so boring and going with some mates will make this even more fun."

"Very well, your mission is to observe this group called Friends of Humanity. You have my permission to fight them as well, but for now I want you to gather intelligence. I want to know who their leaders are, how large of a group they are, who their largest donors are, and any other information you deem valuable." Magneto announced as Pyro and Sabertooth both seemed happy about the assignment.

"Fine, this mission does sound a little entertaining, I was hoping the runt would be there. Guess it will have to wait for another time. Anything else you want done?" Sabertooth asked as he turned to leave the room.

Magneto lifted Sabertooth in the air with his power before answering, "No but don't take a tone with me Sabertooth. Remember who you are talking too before you take that tone with me."

Dropping the feral mutant to the ground, Magneto watched as he and Pyro finally left to carry out their mission. Sabertooth had been more aggressive and argumentative as of late, but Magneto had just ignored it for the most part. He could understand the man's dislike for his role at the moment and well couldn't hold the anger against him provided he remained loyal to him. That was the key word as Exodus noticed that his lord seemed slightly distracted.

"Lord Magneto, are you okay?" Exodus asked as he looked around the high tech room.

Magneto used his powers to show another news program before speaking, "I'll be fine Exodus; I have much to do before my plan can truly begin. I want you to make sure that Marrow's training is coming along smoothly and then you'll be accompanying me to help determine who the other new members of the Acolytes will be."

"As you wish Lord Magneto, I will make certain that our latest recruits are up to your high standards. We have a lot of individuals desiring to join your cause." Exodus stated calmly as a few of the televisions changed to another news station.

"Yes I know there are a lot of individuals that wish to join us, but only the best of the best can join us. Fortunately having the ones wishing to join us train at that location in New York was a wise idea. We'll continue this later Exodus; I have many things that require my attention." Magneto spoke as the man merely bowed his head slightly and then left the room quickly.

'I believe that things will quickly go my way since I have been receiving more new recruits. Right now most of them aren't anything special, but there are a few that show a lot of promise. Cortez, his sister, and the one called Frenzy show a lot of promise indeed. Soon mutants will have a place to call their own, but first this Master must be stopped before he ruins my plans.' Magneto thought as he began his own plans for the future, in particular a small island that was circled on his map.

At the SHIELD prison guards made their rounds quickly and efficiently. Not a single guard knew what was about to happen, so it was business as usual for them. The only two guards on the upper level that weren't making rounds had been ordered to closely watch Cain Marko aka Juggernaught and his containment cell. The two looked over the cell the first being a man named Wes and the second being named Lee. As usual the two would play cards or something because guarding the man was anything but exciting.

"You know something, why do we have to guard this bastard?" Lee asked as his northern accent showed in his voice.

"Yeah well this guy isn't exactly harmless; I heard he got shipped here when he attacked a government agent and the grandson of a top ranking general. They were going to send him back to his usual cell but I guess attacking those two resulted in this place for him. Guess he pissed off the wrong people and so have we to land such a crap ass assignment." Wes answered as he remembered a few of the details about the man they were guarding.

Lee showed his winning hand of aces high before speaking, "Speak for yourself, but I don't think anything will ever happen here. Nobody in their right damn mind would attack a SHIELD prison, hell I heard they brought in that Dr. Octopus guy a few days ago that was fighting Spider-man."

"Dude, everyone knows Spider-man was invented by the Daily Bugle to sell papers. He isn't even real; you want a real hero then look no further then our boss." Wes barked as an argument was starting to brew between the two guards.

"Oh yeah, well then you tell me who the hell captured that guy that has tentacles wielded onto his back. There are some real freaks out there and I'm glad there are people out there with the same kind of powers fighting the good fight. Just think about it, the only people that stand a chance against people like this guy are people that have the same kind of power. Besides at least we aren't guarding one of those two." Lee retorted as both of the men could agree that guarding those two was even worse then their current assignment.

"That would defin…" Wes said as his last words were cut off by a massive explosion.

The entire prison shook as alarms began to blare from what the two considered an attack. Outside in the hallway leading to Juggernaught's cell, SHIELD guards gathered together aiming their weapons down the hallway. The group was shocked as three SHIELD guards were tossed through the door and down the hallway landing with a sickening thud behind them. The group of guards started to fire as Omega Red walked into the hallway. It was a frenzied attack as his tentacles tossed the guards everywhere.

"Hmm, I was hoping for more of a challenge." Omega Red spoke his words dripping with venom as he knocked out the last couple of guards.

"Don't get over confident, I want you to take the second and third squads down to the lowest level and wait for me there Omega Red. Mystique, I want you to take the first and forth squads to keep the SHIELD agents and guards busy. The fifth squad will accompany me as my personal guards. I'll handle the recruitment of Juggernaught, now go." the Master ordered as both people nodded, the squads had been left behind to guard the rear so they could leave the hallway containing Juggernaught.

The Master raised both of his hands slowly as he used his telekinetic power to rip off the door and levitating it in the air. Wes and Lee took that chance to open fire only to dive out of the way when the man flung the door at them. The two never made it to the ground as the Master slammed them hard into the ceiling and allowed the two to fall back to the ground. Smiling the man looked at the advanced cylinder cell that held the Juggernaught.

"State of the art stasis gel, computer monitoring, and medical technology, this is the best they came up with to contain a powerful force like you. Hear me Cain Marko," the Master started as he reached out with his telepathic skills to contact the man. "Agree to work for me and you shall be given all that you desire. I can offer you power, wealth, and even revenge against your half brother and the others responsible for placing you here. The only catch is that you serve me as one of my valued warriors, or I could always leave you here. Know that if you try to betray me, I will destroy your mind and leave it as blank as a sheet of paper. Do we have a deal?"

Stepping over to a computer and starting to drain the gel, the man smiled before speaking, "Excellent, welcome to my team, the unstoppable Juggernaught."

It took a while for the stasis gel and the paralyzing effect it had to finally wear off. Waiting patiently the Master and his troops watched as the much larger Juggernaught stretched his muscles and limbs as he took his first few steps of freedom. Bringing his left arm up, Juggernaught had his helmet brought to him, snatching it quickly as he strapped it back on and over his head.

"If you really can give me what I want then we have a deal. I'm tired of having to deal with my little brother and all of his kids any way." Juggernaught barked as the Master merely nodded and motioned for him to follow.

A few SHIELD guards ran down the hallway just at that moment, not that it mattered. Juggernaught charged down the hallway knocking the guards out of the way and even charging through a wall as the Master and his troops just followed the man. The Master couldn't help but laugh as the unstoppable Juggernaught tossed around SHIELD guards as if they were nothing but rag dolls.

"Don't have to much fun now Juggernaught; I'll let you have fun with these men. I also want you to free every prisoner you come across, that should make things more interesting. Keep these fools occupied while I free the other person that we came here to release. Do not however, release any of the lower level prisoners without my approval. Those are the most dangerous prisoners, some that should never be released." the Master ordered as the large tank like man seemed to perfectly understand his orders.

'Speaking of that it is time to free the person that will hopefully be of use against the military. I still have to worry about that mystic wielding bitch Selene; she is one of the few people in this world that poses a dire threat to what I desire. That being said, I believe someone once said magic must defeat magic and in any case I need a mystic for something else I have in mind for the future.' the Master thought as he walked down a couple of hallways and then went down the staircase.

"I was waiting for you, that new Stark Enterprises guard robot isn't to far from here. I also didn't want to go farther without your permission." Omega Red spoke as he waited patiently for a response from the man.

It took a moment before the Master finally replied, "Squad five move in and destroy the robot."

The men merely nodded before running into the room and shortly thereafter screams could be heard along with gunfire and laser blasts. A few moments later three seriously injured survivors came out of the hallway, the robot was heavily armed and the weapons they used didn't do much damaged to the well designed guardian.

"Omega Red, go and destroy this guard for me. I'll wait here for the time being." the Master spoke as the Russian walked inside to face the machine.

The robot was kind of humanoid like with two legs, but the chest was heavily armored. Two lasers seemed to be attached to its arms as well as concussion missiles on its back, but the machine did stand tall at 9 feet. The red and black robot took one look at Omega Red before deciding to attack. The laser blasts however didn't even bulge the Russian as he used his tentacles to his advantage.

"This should be fun, but still you are just a toy." Omega Red spoke as he wrapped two of his tentacles around the machine and tried to cause it to trip.

It was at that moment that the Master entered the room growing increasing impatient. Using his telekinetic abilities, he ripped the machine apart piece by piece without much effort. Leaving nothing but spare parts behind, he kept walking towards the entrance to the lowest level of the prison. Omega Red stepped in front of the man acting as his shield as the final door was opened revealing 10 SHIELD guards preparing to make a desperate last stand.

"We can't let them go any further, you will stop and surrender." a SHIELD guard bellowed as the Master looked at him and used his telekinetic powers to send him flying into the ceiling and killing the man almost instantly by shattering his skull.

"Omega Red, you may kill them all. Do not however go in that room or allow anyone near it. What is in there must never be freed again, not even I desire to see that man free again." the Master started as he pointed to a cell that had its door painted blood red. "I will be in the blue colored cell and do not disturb me unless it is an emergency."

The SHIELD guards just watched as the man left the room before the fun truly began. Omega Red used his extra appendages and his special ability to suck them dry of their life force. The soldiers of the Master just ignored the dying SHIELD guards and seemed to patrol the area. Two even took up guarding the red door that no one was allowed to go in under any circumstance. Inside the cell with the Master things were very different.

The Master took a couple of steps noticing the cryogenic chamber before speaking, "Ah so this is how they contained you and it seems they had help as well. I should have known they would attempt something like this; it is the type of punishment that those military fools would inflict upon someone."

The room had one chamber and a couple of computers monitoring the status of it. Also in the room were a couple of artifacts that the Master could only assume dampen or prevent the powers of anyone who entered the room. Touching a few buttons, a warning symbol appeared on the monitor's screen. The process of unfreezing the individual inside had begun and now all the man had to do was wait. A few minutes later and the chamber hissed open as a hand reached out for the first time.

"Hello my old friend, it certainly has been a long time since I last saw you. I came because I need your help old friend and in exchange you will also finally get the retribution that you desire against SHIELD and the military. So Andrea von Strucker, how does it feel to finally be free once more?" the Master spoke as the figure finally revealed a beautiful young woman.

"I've been expecting you, what took you so long? I would have been more cautious had I known you would take this long to rescue me. How long has it been since my capture?" Andrea spoke her blond hair and clothes wet from the cryogenic chamber.

"Perhaps four years or so but that doesn't matter now. Come now its time to go, I'm eager to finally drop this ridiculous get up that I've been wearing and to finally recall that brother of yours." the Master answered as he took one last look at the computers that were monitoring the cryogenic chamber.

"You always seemed to be anxious about certain things, I understand why you would wear a get up like that but still it's a little out there. Still I'm glad you came, we can pick up right were we left off. All we have to do is find my brother and we can make use of the knowledge we stole from the military." Andrea replied as the Master chuckled slightly in response as they left the room.

Omega Red glanced at the scantily clad Andrea, she was basically wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts that were soaked. Her blond hair reaching down to her back, she followed the Master as he took one last look at that red door. Glaring at it slightly, he glared at it before motioning his men aside. Even Andrea stayed away from the man as the Master warned everyone telepathically to stay out of his way and away from the room. Entering the room cautiously, he stepped into the room a few steps before realizing how the security in the room was far more advanced then in the previous rooms.

"Well it's so good to know that SHIELD has managed to keep you sealed away all of these years. Especially since I fought against you during my misguided days and before I realized the truth of the world. Still the fact that they haven't killed you shows weakness on their part. If the world only knew that Captain America and his greatest enemy the Red Skull were still alive. Oh well I'm not about to let you out of your prison, in fact I hope you rot in here. It was nice seeing you again or rather it was nice seeing you still held in your frozen chains. Letting you live like this would be far more painful then well allowing you to die even if I desire to kill you." the Master spoke a rather pleasant tone coming out of his voice as he turned around and left the room quickly.

"Was that really necessary, I want to get out of here as soon as possible. I still can't believe that they actually managed to capture me." Andrea retorted as Omega Red seemed to glare at the women for her lack of respect.

Omega Red continued to glare before responding, "Show some respect woman, he is the Master. He doesn't answer to us, we answer to him."

"Now, now Omega, it's quite fine. She is a bit unique you see and since it's her I don't really mind. In the future though Andrea I would appreciate you being a bit more respectful and remember your place. I'll tell you about this later for now though let us leave this place." the Master replied as the women merely nodded as the Master sent out an order for everyone to move out.

It was a peaceful trip as it seemed every SHIELD guard in the facility was being taken care of or had too much to handle to stop the group. As instructed the lower level prisoners remained in their cells as the group continuing moving towards their next goal. Walking past the shattered robot and heading back up to the extraction point the Master actually seemed pleased the way things were going.

'Andrea's freedom is the perfect way to end SHIELD and sever the relationship between it and the military. Her past animosity with Wells, Pike, and the other Joint Chiefs plays right into my hands. They captured her because she learned secrets that they didn't want anyone to know and now well let the games begin. Are you watching Henry? This is a large move in my favor, what will you do now?' the Master thought as the group finally met back up with Mystique and Juggernaught.

"Well now that we are together, I believe it is time for us to make our exit. SHIELD has its hands full with all of the prisoners being released and I have no interest in anyone else that is here. We're leaving now, Mystique contact our ride its time to go." the Master commented as the group walked literally unharassed to the extraction point.

It was a quick walk to a decent sized helicopter that could hold everyone was waiting and ready to go. The SHIELD guards had their hands full dealing with other criminals that had been released and the ones that tried to stop them were easily dealt with by the Master. Stepping into the helicopter, everyone buckled up as it took off leaving a smoking state of the art prison behind in a literal riot.

"Sir, Gauntlet is waiting to talk to you about Deadpool and his failure to act during the incident in South Africa. Would you like to hear it now sir?" the pilot asked as the Master merely shook his head no and pulled the hood of his cloak down.

"I'll deal with it in a moment; I have other things I wish to handle right now. Set our course for the plane, we'll be leaving the United States shortly." the Master started as he removed the cloak revealing the black armored uniform that he was wearing. "Oh yes one last thing I want you to open a line of communication to our headquarters, the time to start the second phase of my plan is about to begin. Be sure to use the line that I programmed into the computer and tell them we will be arriving shortly. Then route Gauntlet's communication to the monitor"

Releasing his seat belt, the Master finally revealed his full face to the people that had served him so well over the years. A young face that could only belong to someone younger then 40 appeared as well as short brown hair, and the most notable attribute was the fact the man had two eyes of different colors. The right eye had a blue tint to it while the left eye had a greenish tint to it. A small scar ran down his left cheek as the man looked at his reflection in the mirror before turning on the communication monitor.

"Sir, Deadpool has reported his reason for failing the mission as follows. He claims to have been attacked by a group of individuals using miniaturized cloaking technology. I haven't found any evidence to really support or deny his claim." Gauntlet started as the Master rubbed his chin clearly in thought about the situation. "I'm not aware of a group that has made soldiers or has units that can do that. Not even SHIELD uses that kind of tactic, but maybe…"

A small wave of anger spiked through the Master before he responded, "I see so he was prepared for me to make a move on her. Alan Fitzgerald and his little girl boss managed to anticipate my move to take the girl. This is the first thing in a very long time to surprise me, only those two would make use of technology like this which clearly hasn't been in use. Just like that little weapon they had to use against the sentinels."

"So you believe Deadpool that fool could be just making this shit up." Gauntlet replied as the Master chuckled slightly before shaking his head.

"No, I doubt he would make this up and it would fit that little girl's style. She isn't a military type, so she relies on others to make military moves. She is a civilian after all but it shows that she is learning quickly. We will have to make a few adaptations, I want you to go to our base in Russia and retrieve the data there. Then return to the main base, that will be all for now Gauntlet." the Master replied as he turned off the communication monitor and actually seemed to sigh.

The helicopter flew off in the distance before disappearing a blur of light, the Master merely smiled as the cloaking device he had been given had been reversed engineered and now he was outfitting all of his personal aircraft with them. Tapping his hands slowly the man could barely contain his excitement for when he managed to return to his main base.

Next Chapter: Potential

Returning to the institute, Brandon prepares for his so called final exam while getting in some last minute training with the New Mutants. More changes are happening as Betsy starts to make herself at home and the others begin to unwind.


	34. Potential

**AN: Well this certainly took me a bit longer then I thought to wrap up. Any way I only have one chapter left for this part of the fic. After that I'll be starting a new sequel that will be slightly detailed in the next chapter. On a personal note, I finally upgraded my internet to something that actually has some speed to it and doesn't cost a damn arm and a leg for me. That hopefully means my days of internet trouble and problems are over. I'm hoping that I can finish the next chapter by this coming Friday and then it's on to cleaning up Mutants and an Alchemist. Enjoy the fic and take it easy. **

Betsy Braddock sighed slightly as she explored the grounds of the institute. Two days ago the group had returned minus Cutter, who had been conveniently left behind to take care of some additional security upgrades to the Dr. MacTaggert's facilities. Hammer had left a day later without much of a word to anyone with the only exception being Alan and Brandon. Walking past a suit of armor she sighed slightly, despite all of the people that were around she was bored out of her mind.

'Man there just has to be something going on here, it's the weekend and all but damn it cant be this boring. Bloody Americans have all this great stuff and this place is as quiet as an art museum. Got to be someone around here that would be interesting to talk with or meet.' Betsy thought as she yawned slightly while narrowing her choices.

"Oh hi Betsy, like how are you today?" Kitty asked as she suddenly phased through a wall.

"Uh just fine, do you always do that?" Betsy retorted slightly spooked about the phasing ability and the implications it could cause.

Kitty looked slightly confused before she answered, "Oh well only when I'm rushing to get somewhere and I never go through anyone else's rooms. Scott and Jean wouldn't like it if I walked in on them so to speak. I don't think the other couple would enjoy it either. Any way I would like to talk more, but I've got a training session in the Danger Room to get to. Now a days if the X-men are going to use it we have to get in there before Logan or Brandon hold a demolition derby. I honestly think those two are having a contest to see who can destroy the room the most."

"Really, it sounds like Brandon takes after Alan more then I thought." Betsy started as she chuckled slightly at some old memories coming to the front of her mind. "Odd, I would have thought you would try to avoid training as much as possible. Training never was my favorite thing, so very dull after all. Maybe training with others will be better though and the Professor did say he would help me with my telepathy."

"That was like before the Institute got attacked by that Master guy, we take our training real serious now. Scott said it was because we had gotten complacent and now well we got to like train really hard. Any way got to run like later." Kitty yelled as she phased into another wall and disappeared from view.

Betsy turned around and started to walk down the hallway yet again, this time turning to move down the stairs. It didn't take her very long to learn her way around the Institute and she had to admit that most of the people here were nice enough. Scott and Jean had been very welcoming despite both having major research papers due. A couple of voices could be heard as she continued her little trip as Roberto and Ray walked past her both of them looking her up and down.

"Boys, it's not nice to think those thoughts about a lady." Betsy commented as she could easily tell what they were thinking and not because they were projecting their thoughts.

"Sorry, it's just that well…oh man we got to get going or we'll be late. Come on Ray." Roberto barked as he didn't want to be late to another training session with Brandon because the punishment usually involved some form of cleaning.

"Yeah, yeah I'm going but still…" Ray started as he looked over at Betsy and her rather revealing outfit. "A shame she can't train with us. I mean it would make things a lot more interesting."

"Boys, I'm out of your league and believe me you wouldn't stand a chance against me. Why don't you run along now little boys before your instructor finds out?" Betsy spoke as the two boys finally ran along to join the training session.

"Um no offense Ms. Braddock but if you didn't dress like that you wouldn't have problems with them like this." Leah stated calmly as Betsy looked over at the tired marine, who had just a moment ago came out of her guest room.

Betsy seemed slightly insulted before speaking, "What's wrong with my clothes exactly? These are comfortable and they don't get in the way. Besides your assuming I don't like the reaction that I'm getting from most of the guys here."

Leah merely shook her head as she looked the woman over; she was wearing a pair of tight sweatpants and what basically amounted to a tight fitting tank top. Betsy just looked at her before walking down the hallway and towards the stairs as Leah started to follow her. Betsy took a few more turns before finally making her way into the kitchen with Leah not far behind.

"Ms. Braddock, I wasn't finished with…" Leah began as Betsy grabbed an apple and took a seat at the table before interrupting.

"Bloody hell, does everyone here project their thoughts or just a few of you. Look, you might not like my style but this is the way it's going to be. Now I think that's about enough of this, I got other things that I need to take care of besides arguing about my taste in clothing or your lack of taste." Betsy interrupted as she took a bite out of the apple and her thoughts turned to other matters.

'If they think that this is too revealing wait until they see my uniform. That being said though I have to wonder if they even realize just how strong I am when compared to the others that live here. After all I have had a few advantages in my training that they just didn't have.' Betsy thought as she thought of what she considered the only advantage of the Hand incident.

"I apologize if I have offended; I was merely stating what I thought of the situation. Any way I have to get back to work, the Major is expecting progress on the material he left me and I have to get some of it done before I report back to the base with him. Please excuse me." Leah stated calmly causing Betsy to shake her head and just let her walk away.

'Well she's an odd one, I was sure we would have continued this conversation for a lot longer then this. Then again she might just have taken a short break to get some air or a little exercise, but still at least it was a little interesting. I'm still so very bored.' Betsy thought as she took another bite out of the apple.

That was when two loud yells grabbed her attention as she looked outside. Jaime and Rahne had been sparring with Brandon when both of them had been tossed hard to the ground. Despite their advances in hand to hand, most of the New Mutants still had a lot to learn about the various grapples, punches, and kicks. Betsy stood up and opened the kitchen door slowly and stepped outside, she was surprised that they were training so close to the institute.

"I admit you both are getting better, Jaime your usage of clones in training has clearly paid off. In a couple of months I'll definitely have to take you more seriously. Rahne, I'm glad you've also seemed to incorporate some of your more feral instincts into your attacks. It makes it harder to predict your movements but your still revealing too much when you make your moves." Brandon stated as he looked over the rest of them and took a deep breath.

"Thanks Brandon, I've been trying really hard. Paige has also been helping me practice too; it helps to have someone that isn't me to spar against." Jaime replied as the two picked themselves off the ground.

"Ah guess Ah'll have to try harder to beat ya next time. Ah intend to beat you one day soon." Rahne commented as Brandon merely smiled and pulled out a piece of paper writing a few things down.

He slid the paper back into his pocket before speaking, "Okay the next two on my list are Tabby and Ray. After that it will be Amara and Dani, and then we can call it a day. I don't want to wear you guys out considering that here soon you will be taking a very important test."

"About time I got a chance to show off, come on Ray. I think between the two us we can take him." Tabby stated a tone of excitement in her voice as both of them took a step towards Brandon.

"Really we'll see here soon. The rules are the same as always, you two have to land a clean shot to my body without the use of your powers. Oh and one more thing for you to remember, you only have 2 minutes to beat me." Brandon replied his voice showing no hesitation or fear in his voice.

"I'm going to get you this time." Ray barked as he charged forward throwing a few hard punches as Brandon easily dodged them.

Tabby smiled as she used Ray's rash attack as a diversion to launch her own attack. She thought he didn't notice her as she attempted to kick the side of his chest but he easily dodged and countered her kick. He grabbed her right leg and quickly tossed her to the floor before returning his attention to Ray. A quick hard left hook to Ray's chest however ended his charge as the young man fell to the ground. All of the air had been knocked out of his chest as Brandon quickly used a throw to toss Ray on the ground next to her.

"Hmm, your attacks are sloppy but you are at least attempting to use teamwork. You still have some time left but you aren't going to win fighting so wildly and without a solid plan." Brandon commented as the two nodded to each other before getting up and charging forward.

Ray tossed a wild haymaker before yelling, "I've got you this time."

Brandon merely shook his head as he easily blocked the attack and used Ray's momentum to send him flying into the ground. Tabby used that time to try and land a blow on his chest but her kicks barely missed her target. Spinning away from her, Brandon smiled slightly using his right hand to mock her by telling her to bring it on.

What happened next was almost a blur as he overpowered the girl and quickly placed her in an arm bar.

"Well at least you have improved some but you need to work on your teamwork. Rahne and Jaime fought with a plan, you two just fought with the idea of showing off. Fighting like that isn't going to cut it in the future. Most fights are decided within the first two minutes, that might not seem like much time but it's a lot in a fight." Brandon started as he let Tabby go as his watch beeped meaning time was up. "Okay that leaves one group left before the end of our training today. I need a little break though before we continue so let's take a 5 minute break before we continue."

Betsy started to clap a little before speaking, "Well aren't you the generous instructor, well at least you aren't as bloody or irritating as your friend."

"Betsy, I wasn't aware that you were observing our training today. Is there something that you need?" Brandon asked as he grabbed a towel and wiped some sweat off of his face as his students walked away slowly for their break.

"No I was just admiring your work so to speak, not bad all considering. You must have learned this kind of thing from that blooming lunatic Alan. He stayed with me for two months and well he also taught me a few things a lot like you are doing with them now." Betsy replied as she moved closer to him as he continued to wipe away all of his sweat.

"Yeah he taught me a lot of things, but I wasn't aware of how long he's known you or the specifics. Just his way I supposed and I don't really question him unless I think it's overly important. His work is mostly classified and I try to respect that the best that I can." Brandon stated a small breeze beginning to blow as he placed the towel on the ground.

Betsy turned her head and looked at the students who were gathering a good distance away from them during the break. Amara and Dani seemed to be talking strategy while the others were getting water or just taking it easy while waiting for the finish of training. It was an interesting sight as their instructor took a seat on the ground to rest while he waited for the break to end.

"I was looking at that disk Alan gave me when we were in London. I saw some things…" Betsy started pausing for a moment while she found the words. "What I'm trying to say is he showed me a small clip of what happened at NRI and a few things about you. It also had a few things about me and other things on it. I have to admit you're an intriguing one, a lot more interesting then fish and chips or usual shop talk."

Brandon seemed slightly surprised before responding, "I well I guess thanks, but if at all possible NRI is one topic I would rather avoid. Not something that well is a popular topic for me. I have an idea why Alan showed it to you but I'm sure you understand."

"Yeah I do, I can see why Alan likes you so much. Well I have an idea, how about after you spar with your students here; you and I have a little match. It would show your students how they are really supposed to fight and it would give me some exercise." Betsy retorted waiting patiently as the young man finally relented.

"Hmm, guess that works for me. Excuse me it's almost time to get back to work at least for me any way." Brandon began as he turned towards his students and shouted. "Okay time for the next match and then you'll all get to something special. Our newest friend Betsy and I are going to be having a little match."

The students slowly began returning most of the guys buzzing about seeing the hot Asian girl in action. Amara and Dani on the other hand had a strategy with their upcoming match. That being said Amara had become slightly irritated at Betsy's presence, she trusted Brandon but that being said she was slightly jealous about the match the two would be having.

"Just stay cool Amara; you know he won't try anything. He's completely into you but if you lose that temper of yours he'll tear you apart in your match." Dani commented while Amara glared slightly at Betsy before focusing back on their current opponent.

"Yeah I know, come on lets take him down a notch. So far he's been undefeated today and I'm interested in breaking that record right here and now. If we work together this wont be as challenging as it was for the others. Besides its not every day a girl gets a chance to take her boyfriend down a notch or two ego wise any way." Amara whispered as the two took a step forward and Brandon dropped back into a defensive stance.

Amara and Dani stood close together as their instructor watched them carefully. Despite the time limit, the two were taking their time in engaging the man. The two suddenly charged forward as if they were shot out of a gun. A quick succession of punches and kicks kept Brandon dodging as he quickly realized they had him off balance and on the defensive.

'Damn, I didn't expect them to move this fast. I'm having a hard time keeping up with two of them. My only chance now is to divide and then conquer or they'll be the only team that beats me today. I have to drive a wedge between them or it's all over.' Brandon thought as he finally caught Dani's small fist and tossed her hard to the ground.

Amara almost had him with a hard right jab before yelling, "I almost got you there, but I'll get you this time. Hurry Dani, we have to move faster."

"Close doesn't count in this game, close only counts with hand grenades. Besides you're kind of cute when you're frustrated." Brandon began as he grabbed her left arm and started to overpower the much smaller Amara much to her frustration. "You still look cute but I'm afraid this game is almost over. Not much time left you know."

Dani got up quickly seeing her chance to attack only to have Brandon toss Amara to the ground and move out of the way. He had to move away slowly while at the same time block her attacks. Using his right and left arm he easily blocked a few punches until he noticed Amara making an attempt to sweep his legs out from under him. Barely jumping over the sweeping kick, Brandon tripped onto the ground, both girls seeing their chance at a victory.

"Got you this time Brandon, we're going to win this." Amara boasted as both girls tried to kick him while he was down only to have him roll out of the way.

Brandon started to pant as he finally finished rolling away and attempted to get back on his feet. Fact was however both girls were literally a few inches away from him before the timer finally rang ending the exercise. The two immediately stopped as Brandon let out a rather loud sigh of relief from not being hit by the two girls or losing the exercise.

"Very good, but I wonder if the two of you would have managed to formulate a plan like that if I didn't need a break after Ray and Tabby. Still you performed admirably despite the fact you lost the exercise. A few more seconds and you probably would have had me." Brandon began while the others gathered around him slowly. "Now I want you all to pay close attention to this fight. A few of these moves you'll be learning in the future and this is what a real match is going to look like."

Betsy took a few steps forward bending over to stretch as she spoke, "Yeah just don't lose too quickly Brandon or this won't be much of a match."

"Sure, but don't come crying to me if you lose." Brandon taunted right back as the two started to circle one another.

Betsy didn't even flinch from the taunt before a small smile crossed her face. Running forward she made the first move by launching a few punches at Brandon. The punches were easily blocked as she tested his defenses before delivering a very nimble and agile kick to his left knee. He almost fell on the ground as she moved to deliver another kick with her right leg forcing him to grab the leg and toss her into the air. Betsy landed on her feet as he stood back up both ready to go at it again.

"Impressive, you tried to lull me into a false sense of security and then you pulled that. You definitely are going to be a challenge, but there is something I want to know before we continue." Brandon started as she merely nodded her consent to his question. "Since you know Alan pretty well too, I wanted to know if you ever managed to beat him in a sparring match."

"I haven't beaten him, I've tried to beat the bloody hell out of him, but he's not an easy opponent." Betsy stated while both people ran forward to continue the match.

The two started out by launching into a very complicated series of grapples and counters. Betsy had actually tossed the much larger guy onto the ground before he rolled over and tried to place her in an arm bar. The two continued countering each other before Brandon scored a hit with a strong left hook to her abdomen area. Once again the two broke apart both slightly out of breath.

"You're good…" Brandon commented as he started moving again, as he closed the gap and tried to nail her with a jab.

Betsy blocked the attack and hit him with her own right jab in the chest before responding, "So are you, but I'll still win this match."

'Hmm so far we've been sticking to pretty light weight stuff that doesn't really hurt. I have to say after analyzing all of this that this match is probably going to end in a draw. I don't think either one of us is going to use our best moves just because we aren't enemies.' Brandon thought as he retaliated with a hard side kick to her chest.

The two continued their match as the others watched with a mixture of fascination and other emotions. Roberto and Ray had been watching mostly Betsy due to the fact that nearly any hot blooded; hormone driven teenager couldn't help but look at her. Jaime and Sam had snuck peaks but mostly watched to see how things would go because Paige and Tabby wouldn't exactly be thrilled if they caught them. The girls on the other hand watched the scene with interest as the two started another series of complex counters.

"Damn they are really going at it; I would have thought this wouldn't have been much a match. Is this what they expect us to be able to do in the future?" Tabby replied as the two broke away from each other both panting heavily.

"I would have to say yes but still they have experience and skills that we have yet to acquire. For one of us this wouldn't even be a contest but those two are on a totally different level then us. I have to say this gap in abilities and skills is a little discomforting." Dani replied while the two started sparring each other again.

Sam watched the scene cautiously before speaking, "Ah got to admit that Ah thought Brandon would win this hands down. Then again now that Ah'm thinking about it, this isn't really all that surprising. If she knows Alan then it makes sense that she knows how to fight."

"That's true since the only people he brings over here tend to be people that can fight. It makes me wonder how good she is though, not that it matters, I know Brandon will win." Amara started while another lull had developed in the fight. "There is a problem though; Betsy isn't tired as much as he is. He's been training and sparring with us for the better part of 2 hours now. I know he can win but he's probably really tired right now."

The lull in the fight seemed to continue as Brandon panted heavily and sweat dripped down his face. So far the match had been relatively even with neither one able to make or keep an advantage. That was beginning to change as the days earlier activities began to catch up to him. Fact was he was quickly growing tired and any minute now he would have to quit simply because he just couldn't keep up with the fresh and well rested Betsy.

"I think this match is going to have to be a draw." Betsy started slightly shocking the young man as he was about to concede defeat. "I'm not as tired as you are, but if we had both had been fresh then you probably would have won this match. You've been training for a while and well its just not bloody fair on my part to win like this. So I think a draw is in order."

"Sounds good to me, I'm exhausted. I haven't been this tired in a long while, this was a good match though. We'll have to do a rematch sometime so we can find out whose better." Brandon replied a small smile on his face as his opponent merely nodded in agreement.

"Are you okay Brandon, maybe you pushed it a little too far this time?" Amara asked a tone of concern in her voice as everyone gathered around the two.

Brandon smiled slightly before answering, "I'm fine no need to worry at all, it was an excellent match. If it had been Alan, I doubt the match would have been so evenly balanced. Any way thanks for the match, I don't get very many challenging opponents here."

"That was great, will we be able to fight like that one day too. I mean it was just so cool and it was like…" Jaime started excitement in his voice at the thought of being stronger and cool like Brandon.

"In a matter of speaking, but you wont be fighting exactly like we do. Everyone develops their own unique way of handling a fight once they get to a certain point and well you'll be learning some things, but we'll talk about that later." Brandon started as a couple of thoughts entered his mind. "Tomorrow there's going to be a big test that the Professor has asked me to conduct. I can't answer any questions about it right now, so please hold them until then. You have the rest of the day off; if you would all excuse me I have to go meet with the Professor now. Mara, I'll up with you later in the kitchen. All this work has made me really hungry."

Brandon walked off quickly as the others began to whisper to each other about the situation. After Betsy was sure he was inside and gone, she turned and looked at the people who were still there talking. Every single one of them had remained, but their talk seemed to be focused solely on this so called big test that was happening tomorrow.

"So what's this big test exactly?" Betsy asked interrupting the small little meeting that they were having.

"In all honesty, we don't really know much about it. All we do know is the Professor asked Brandon to give it in preparation for something. Kitty told me however, that she overheard Scott, Logan, Brandon, and the Professor talking about making some changes to the New Mutants." Dani answered while odd looks were being exchanged among the various people present.

"Ya don't think that they aren't satisfied with our progress and if we don't do well that Brandon won't be teachin us any more." Paige commented causing a small panic to begin among the group.

Noriko seemed to wait a moment before responding, "I don't think that is it, if anything from what I've seen we've only gotten stronger."

"Yeah that can't be it; he made us more of team. More like the X-men and it's not like were not learning to control our abilities. He makes sure we have training in ever area, he even gave us that two session lecture on the usage of proper combat tactics." Tabby added giving a slight impression of the marine.

"I wish I knew what was going on, but Brandon rarely talks about his meetings with the Professor or anyone else. All I know whatever it is, its big and important. At least we do know it doesn't involve training on the Dark Mile since that thing still isn't working properly since they had Forge help with some of the computer stuff." Amara replied, the group was becoming more and more agitated as Betsy just watched them.

Betsy couldn't help but chuckle slightly, she had a good idea of what was going on and that would at least make things a bit more exciting around here. It stood to reason that she would be bored since she couldn't enroll in college until the new semester started and she was still getting to know most of the people here. She started to walk away as well so the others could think this out for themselves.

Meanwhile in the Professor's office a small meeting was beginning. Most of the senior staff along with Scott and Brandon was there as the Professor did one last check for eavesdroppers. This meeting was very important and they didn't want the contents getting out before they had time to explain to the others what was going on exactly.

"So Brandon, I would like you to begin your report on the development of the New Mutants." Professor Xavier spoke starting the meeting off quickly.

"Of course Professor, I'm pleased to say they are progressing very well through my training program. As most of you know I've incorporated a combination of PT, schooling, and training their abilities. I have to admit that the progress that Jaime has been making has been downright scary. He uses his clones and between all of them his progress is scary, a couple of years and he might be giving Alan a run for his money. Amara, Tabby, Sam, and Dani have also been making excellent progress. The others are making decent progress and because of Noriko and Paige's youth I hesitate to place them in the same category with the others."

Logan grunted slightly before speaking, "I have to admit marine, you've done a good job with the kids. When I taught them it was always a challenge to get them to do anything responsibly without making them fear me. You've got their respect and they are working hard for you. Still you think they are ready for the next step."

"I have to say that they are after watching some of their training. I was a little hesitant at first because I thought you focused too much on the physical training." Scott started adding his thoughts to the matter. "Now though you've actually helped build them into a team and help the New Mutants grow as mutants. The question is though what are we going to do about X-23 and Betsy. Both are way too skilled to be included with the New Mutants."

"I agree with you about Betsy but I think it would do X-23 good to be around people her own age. One day yeah, she should probably be with the X-men, but I think it would be best if we left her with the others right now. I intend to test her tomorrow as well, not on her capabilities but on her capacity to work with others due to her loner tenacities." Brandon commented as he gave Scott a polite nod in thanks for his support and compliment.

Professor Xavier listened carefully as they continued to discuss the situation while he also looked at a set of folders that had notes and grades written in them. Brandon had graded them on their progress and had kept track of his students well as the Professor looked through the information. What surprised him the most however was that something else was written down as well; the weaknesses that the teacher had noticed from each and every one of his students so he could help them overcome their weaknesses.

"I agree with Scott, you've done an admirable job training them Brandon. You should be really proud on how well you've managed to do this." Ororo spoke as the young man merely nodded and bowed his head slightly from all the praise he was receiving.

"Yes, you did an excellent job Brandon. Now we can start building a new team for intermediate students that are ready to take on more responsibilities but have yet to become ready to be X-men. That being said I noticed you've already recommended two people to positions on the new team. I had to admit that I was slightly surprised that you had recommendations in place for this new team." Professor Xavier added while the others listened carefully.

"Um yes that's right. I already have faith that Betsy Braddock and Jubilee will do very well on the new team. Jubilee has shown a faithful devotion to her team and training, it would be wrong of me to hold her back simply because she received an injury in our last mission. Betsy is just to strong to be a New Mutant and I think that having her on this team will be beneficial because it would allow the X-men and this new team to communicate with each other via telepathy. The other reason is that she hasn't shown her true capabilities yet and if we suddenly placed her on the X-men without knowing it could be a mistake on our part." Brandon replied rationally stating his reasons for recommending the two to the team.

"I think the boy needs to be sent down there as well to teach him a few things. This might help him grow as a person, and this would definitely help settle down that large ego of his. He might not be as bad now, but it still shows up everyone once and a while." Logan commented as everyone knew the boy pretty much equaled Bobby.

"I agree with you, I placed Bobby on the X-men because of the potential he has shown and the fact at the time he was the most skilled New Mutant. I had hoped that being with the X-men would help level him off but now I see this would have been a better move." Professor Xavier began placing the papers into his desk. "So those three will be the first members of the new team and I believe that for the moment this new team should consist of eight members. That leaves five spots open for those that are participating tomorrow, I'll make the final decision of course, but your opinions will be taken into account."

"Marine, I'm looking forward to this exam of yours. I'm willing to bet that friend of yours will be back to see it as well." Logan growled making a reference to the current absence of Alan.

Brandon grinned a little before his response, "Yeah this exam should be very interesting and definitely challenging enough to determine who is fit and who isn't ready yet. As for Alan, he'll be here but only because he finds this entertaining. He's even helping me with the exam so it's going to be quite the challenge."

Professor Xavier seemed to smile as he listened to everyone speak back and forth. There was one last piece of business for the man to conduct as he pulled out one last file. This file was different as it had Brandon's name on it and it was the file that the Professor had started the moment the young man had arrived. Placing the folder on his desk, the room quickly became quiet when everyone realized the man was waiting patiently for something.

"One final piece of business and then the meeting for today will be over. Since Bobby will be placed on the new team, I would like to add someone to the X-men. Considering all of the candidates at our disposal, I would like to first offer the position to someone I think is very well qualified for the position." Professor Xavier started a soft smile and warm tone in his voice as he paused to take a small drink of water. "Brandon, I really and truly believe that you have a place on the X-men. So I guess the question is what you want to do because I'm not going to force you or order you."

"If you don't mind Professor could I think about this and let you know tomorrow. A decision like this shouldn't be made rapidly or without some thought given to it. In the past I've dismissed this outright, but now it at least merits some thought. I'll let you know my decision before you announce the new team." Brandon replied causing the Professor merely to nod his head in agreement.

Next Chapter: Epilogue: A New Team for a New Day

The exam occurs and a new team is formed. Brandon makes his decision while the Professor makes a move regarding the future of a lost ally.


	35. Epilogue: A New Team for a New Day

**AN: At last the final chapter for the Knight's Calling. A lot of people have been eagerly awaiting this chapter and well I finally have it up and out for all to read. I've tried to do the best I can, but I'll freely admit I rewrote this about 3 times and this was the best I could do. I'm really excited about the sequel so I did add a little something on the end like I normally do. Take it easy and as always enjoy. **

Bobby smiled slightly when Jubilee finally stepped out of the infirmary. All he had heard for the past few days was all about how bad he messed up and well that was something he freely admitted. The one thing he finally understood however was that there needed to be a long and important talk between the two of them. Jubilee was still having problems with the pain from the wound but seeing Bobby was a bit of relief for her.

"Jubilee, I'm well I'm not good at stuff like this. I really messed up a few days ago and well I guess the only thing I can say is sorry." Bobby began shuffling his feet as the two walked down the corridor. "A lot of things are making sense now, and all I can say is sorry. It really doesn't make up for anything though but I realized so much when that happened to you. I was so afraid that you were going to be gone that it wasn't until that moment that I realized you had feelings for me."

"Bobby, I'm a little sore but its okay. It was just something that could happen, and well it would have been a lot worse if I didn't intervene. I'm just glad you're okay, I wish I didn't get shot of course, but you're okay that's the important thing." Jubilee replied fortunately for Bobby she had vented her frustration and anger about her physical condition with Leah.

"Look I'm not going to pretend that I have the same feelings that you have for me. I don't know if I do, but I would like to give it a try. When you feel up to it maybe we could go get a burger or something else you want to do. Of course I've been kind of grounded for two weeks so we'll have to wait until then." Bobby replied his words causing a rather large smile to appear on Jubilee's face.

"It sounds good until then you owe me Bobby Drake, you owe me big time. I think you're going to be helping me out until I feel completely better." Jubilee stated as the two finally arrived at the elevator to the mansion.

As Bobby and Jubilee talked about the future dates the two would have, a very important meeting was occurring elsewhere in the institute. Alan Fitzgerald despite smelling of whiskey and cigars was taking a seat in the main office of the institute. In front of him was a vanilla colored folder with information for him. Picking it up, he flipped through the information carefully reading it all before glaring slightly at Xavier. The last thing he looked at was a picture of a dark haired and light skin young lady.

"You sent this girl, Tessa, undercover to the Hellfire Club of all things. Do you even have a clue what the hell you've done Xavier. Intelligence gathering is one thing, but this is one group you don't mess without repercussions occurring. I remember the last operative the government sent into this group and believe me saying he came back in a body bag is an understatement. They still don't know what happened to him and what killed him. This is one hell of a fine mess Xavier, so what do you want from me?" Alan asked keeping his anger in check for the most part due to the fact he probably would have done something similar.

'Of all the groups for it to be it just had to be this one. There isn't a concrete thing on this damn group; we don't know their goals, objectives, hell we don't even have a member list. The only reason we know they exist is because SHIELD was so kind to inform us about some of their activities. Seems like every jackass has an agenda these days at least she's pretty though.' Alan thought his eyes scanning all of the information one more time.

Professor Xavier leaned forward in his wheelchair before speaking, "Yes I'm well aware of how dire the situation is and I'm afraid that she has to be pulled out immediately. Her last message indicated that something big was about to happen in the group and that she needed to get out. You're my only hope in this matter because they would easily track us down if I sent in someone like Logan or the X-men. I want to do this discreetly and without brining attention to the institute."

"Why didn't you tell anyone about this sooner? You should have pulled her out sooner, I need to know why?" Alan questioned while he tried to make a decision about the situation.

"I won't lie to you; I became aware of this club after meeting them several years before I founded the institute. They came offering to help but I sensed a lot of malice in their offer and some ill intentions. The meeting disturbed me so much that I knew something had to be done. A few years ago I finally decided to send her to infiltrate the group; Tessa was someone that I thought could handle the responsibilities of spying on the group and keeping me informed of their activities. I thought with her abilities she would be perfect for the job and to an extent I was correct." Xavier spoke carefully watching while Alan seemed to contemplate something.

"My boss and the group I work for know about the Hellfire Club and its illicit activities somewhat. The reason we haven't taken steps to deal with them is because they are well connected and have some powerful friends inside and out of the club." Alan began while he stood up and walked over to a window. "You should know I'll have to clear this with my boss first, if it was Brandon asking I would just go ahead and do the job but this requires some authorization. If she agrees then I'll get this person out, but I'll need help from you and a few other things to do it. There is one other thing, I'm no mercenary but I don't work for free. Like I said before I don't give a rats ass about one side or the other so there will be some cost tied to this. Right now you owe me and I always collect on my favors."

"I understand, let me know what you need and I'll help you any way I can. Believe me I thought sending her there would be worth it but I understand now that perhaps it was just too great a risk. Whatever this information is that she now has it clearly has placed her life at risk." Professor Xavier commented, the whole situation had clearly placed him under a lot of stress.

Alan stood up placing the folder in his jacket before replying, "I'm due to check in about 2 hours from now so I'll let you know what I need and the specifics in 24 hours provided I'm given the go ahead. Just don't ask how this is going to be done because you probably won't like it. I got to check in with my computer expert right now and don't worry this stays strictly between us for the time being unless this group threatens him then he gets brought in without question."

Professor Xavier just smiled and nodded his head which caused Alan to shake his head in disgust. Walking out of the office, Alan was still slightly upset as he pulled out a flask of whiskey that he kept on him for so called emergency situations. Taking a big drink of the flask, he let the warm liquid slide down his throat before continuing on with the rest of the activities he had planned which included one very important meeting with his best friend.

'I guess the best way to do this would be to use our connections to get an invite to a party and then sneak in that way. We might know about them but they shouldn't know about CS since we've pretty much stayed far away from the group. Guess this works just fine any way, the goal of CS is to deal with mutants that pose a direct threat to the US and I'm sure this club doesn't get together to just sit back and drink a keg or two of beer. Why can't I be sent to a place where the enemy would rather get plastered then fight that would make things so much easier for me?' Alan thought a small headache pounding through his head.

In Brandon's room things were also different from the usual routine. Amara was sitting on his bed as the young man sat at his desk while wrote down some notes in a note pad before answering a few questions she would ask. Occasionally she would try to grab the note pad or lean over to see what he was writing but he would always quickly cover the pad or hide it away from her. Seeing as how he wouldn't be finishing it with her around him, he finally closed the small note pad and tossed it on his dresser.

"You know you're very nosy don't you? I'm so hurt that you don't trust me enough to not let me have a little privacy with this note pad." Brandon teased which caused her to pout a little in response.

"I'm a princess you know, you're supposed to let me see stuff when I ask you to. I'm used to getting things done my way." Amara replied a small grin on her face after she finished.

"Hmm well we will definitely have to work on that because I'm used to getting my way." Brandon started teasing her slightly as he took a seat next to her. "I like the fact that you like to come see me so often, but shouldn't you be with the others getting ready for this exam."

Amara grinned yet again as she leaned over whispering, "What makes you think I'm not here to spy on you and try to get information about this so called exam out of you."

"Oh you wouldn't do that; it wouldn't be very princess like you know. A princess has to be all prim and proper after all and spying just wouldn't do for a princess." Brandon spoke teasing her yet again about her title; it had become an important topic since he had to literally spend two nights every week learning about the Nova Roman government, customs, and history from her.

"If I'm the princess then that would make you the knight right? As a knight aren't you supposed to protect the princess from anything that causes her harm like a certain exam that is coming up? That's a knight's calling after all to protect the princess and the country." Amara questioned both of them were in a fairly good mood today.

Brandon stood up slowly walking over to a couple of pictures and looked at them for a few moments. She just watched as he just stared at the pictures and the frames on his chest, of course a couple of more pictures had been added to the ones he kept up there. A picture of her and Brandon was now prominently displayed, and another one of the New Mutants with him in the picture was also there.

"I've enjoyed being here and I will protect any one I can that is here. This test is important Amara and because it is, I can't give you any clues, help or advice other then remember what you've learned. If you could tell the others that then they should be fine. Speaking of the test, I've got to go finish a few preparations in the Danger Room. Tell everyone to be in there before 6:00 or they'll be failed." Brandon began when he walked over to her and bent over giving her a small kiss on the cheek. "Good luck Amara, you're going to need it. Just remember to do your best, no matter what happens. I'll see you down there soon, so make sure you're ready."

"I don't know what this test is, but I'm going to pass it." Amara stated calmly which caused the young man to give her a big smile before leaving the room but not before returning quickly to collect his notepad.

Brandon snatched the notepad up quickly before speaking, "Couldn't let you get a chance to see this now, I'll see you later Amara."

Walking slowly to the elevator he passed a few things before arriving at his destination. Pressing the button for it to open, the doors slid open with a hiss and he was about to head down when he heard someone calling to hold the elevator. Scott and Jean both slid into the elevator, the two noticeably tired and out of breath from something other then their little jog to catch the elevator. Closing the door, a slow descent began as Brandon noticed some of Jean's lipstick on the right side of Scott's neck.

"Uh not that's any of my business what you two do but uh well…this isn't easy to say but…ah hell there some lipstick on the right side of your neck Scott." Brandon stated which immediately caused a blushing reaction from Jean before she reached over and wiped it away.

"Thanks Brandon, we were…" Scott started quickly interrupted by his friend.

"Like I said not any of my business, good to know you two are doing well though. You two respect Amara and I enough to not pry into our business so the least I can do is the same for you." Brandon quickly interjected before the situation could become any more awkward or weird.

Jean smiled sweetly as she fixed her hair a little before speaking, "Thank you, but really we just didn't want to interfere in Amara's relationship. I'm kind of curious though, what is this exam of yours."

The elevator came to a stop as the three stepped out and started to walk slowly to the control room of the Danger Room. Punching in a few buttons, the door slid open allowing the three to access the room. The fact was Brandon had yet to answer Jean as he pressed a few buttons and loaded one of the personal training programs made for him by Dr. McCoy. Placing his notepad carefully on a desk next to the computer he was using.

"That might be hard to explain, but I'll try to explain what I'll be testing. The exam is designed to do test a few things, but there is one thing that I'll be looking for above all others. In that aspect it's really simple, can they last two minutes fighting me at full strength. I'll know if they are ready for the next step just by how they act and fight during this test." Brandon commented changing the simulation background to a plain open field with absolutely nothing for cover.

Scott's face seemed slightly shocked before he responded, "You do realize that's not exactly fair, you are a lot stronger then they are. I mean if you could fight us…"

"It might seem that way, but I think that for the longest time everyone's underestimated what they can really do. This is their chance to shine, to show me and everyone else that they aren't just a bunch of kids any more. There is also one more reason, so he can see them in action." Brandon interrupted putting the finishing touches on the scenario as he looked down at his clock; it was 30 minutes until show time.

As the three talked quietly about events and life in general which was an odd topic since while Brandon knew Scott, he wasn't as familiar with Jean. The only thing that stopped their little conversation was the fact that people were beginning to enter the room to watch the exercise. Professor Xavier, Logan, Dr. McCoy, and Ororo had arrived first with Alan, Betsy, Jubilee, and Bobby a few moments behind. Bowing his head slightly Brandon pointed out a few things to Alan before leaving the room for the Danger Room.

"I wonder if this exercise is going to be interesting, you did say this would be interesting right Alan." Betsy asked the older marine remaining suspiciously quiet.

Alan played with the top of his flask before responding, "Watch and we'll find out. Hmm, that reminds me old man; we need to have a chat later about something."

"You know whiskey one day I might tear you apart for calling me that. You really should take a shower instead of walking around here like an open bar." Logan growled which caused Alan to actually chuckle.

While the conversations in the control room were slowly dying off, the New Mutants had finally gathered in the Danger Room. Paige and Noriko had been dismissed quickly by the Professor due to the fact they weren't ready for the exam. The others watched silently when their teacher entered the room wearing his usual combat uniform.

"I'm glad your all here, this exam is very important. It will decide many things; there is only one rule in this fight. Dani, you are forbidden from using your power. Anything else is far game in this test, and the only reason your powers are banned is because the test would end way too early if you did use them." Brandon began his voice echoing through the room. "That being said you will have one objective during this test and by the way there is a time limit. You have 2 minutes to beat the target. Battles are normally decided in their first few minutes so don't hold back anything or you'll lose."

"Okay Ah think we get it, so who's the opponent?" Rahne asked a small smile on their teacher's face.

"That would be me, and you should know I won't be holding back like I normally do with you guys. I'm going to show you what I can really do and believe me I've improved a lot from my last demonstration. You will begin when the buzzer goes off." Brandon answered when the simulation changed again to a small coverless field.

All of the New Mutants were in a slight state of shock/panic at the thought of having to face off against their teacher. The exception however was X-23, she was eagerly looking forward to the match and it showed by the fact she had a large grin on her face. As nervous as they were though it was eventually Dani that stepped forward to control the situation.

"Look we can do this, calm down, if we stick together like he taught us then we'll be fine. Just look after each other and support each other, we might have a chance if we do that." Dani stated calmly which was amazing considering she was at a considerable disadvantage when compared to the others.

Magma changed into her fiery form before speaking, "She's right, we can do this. If he had a hard time with two of us yesterday then how's he going to handle all of us today?"

It was at that moment that the buzzer went off and the battle began. X-23 had eagerly charged forward with Multiple, Cannonball, and Boom-Boom following her. They had almost made it to him when a barrier appeared sending most of them flying back. It took Cannonball charging up and colliding into the barrier to make it disappear, but as soon as he landed he was nailed with an energy blast. Blasts of fire, time bombs, and electricity followed as Odin just rolled out of the way of their attack.

"Is this all you can do, is this what your combined power can manage. If so this isn't enough to beat me." Odin spoke retaliating with some low powered energy blasts.

"You haven't seen anything yet, come on let's surround him." Dani spoke which caused Multiple to create the most clones he possibly could while the others surrounded him.

X-23 lunged forward catching him slightly off guard with her combination of punches and kicks. The others watched since they didn't want to attack with their teammate being in close range to the target. As X-23 used her right leg to kick him hard in the gut, he caught the leg and smiled slightly before showing a small orb of energy and shoving it into her leg. X-23 felt her leg go completely numb when Odin tossed her into the air.

"I've got her, I've got her." Multiple spoke a few clones gathering together to catch X-23 while the others turned to face Odin.

"Your first mistake was not attacking me as soon as I tossed her away. It will be your last one, this exam is over." Odin commented his tone very cold and icy as if he was irritated with their results.

What the others saw was shocking to say the least, the energy that Odin normally used collected into two large balls. It was shocking to see the blue colored orbs of energy floating there until they just launched themselves at the group. The first orb landed in front of Odin while the other one landed almost directly behind him. The orbs exploded on contact with the ground and the shockwave that followed literally sent most of them flying into the air before landing on the ground with a thud.

"We can't lose like this, we aren't done yet. Come on we have to get up, it isn't over yet. Not after everything we've been through." Dani yelled causing a few of the others to begin stirring and attempting to stand.

"I told you before I was going to win this, and we're all in agreement right." Magma replied while Wolfsbane shifted forms into a wolf and charged forward while being covered by blasts of electricity.

'Ah'll bite him in this form and hopefully that will be enough to let the others get in close. He's a long range type of fighter, Ah've got to get closer.' Wolfsbane thought weaving in and out of a couple of energy blasts that were tossed her way.

"It won't work." Odin barked raising a barrier right when she jumped into the air to protect him from her attack.

Multiple smiled slightly his clones taking advantage of the distraction before speaking, "Are you sure about that?"

'A distraction, they really are getting better. If I'm not careful I'll really end up losing this fight. Still, show me more, show them all what you can really do. Show them that you're no longer kids that need to be sheltered and babied.' Odin thought his mind focusing on about clones until he also noticed Dani and Sunspot had joined the charge.

"Hmm, well that looks in…" Odin started when he noticed that the group broke apart and revealed blasts of electricity and fire heading his way.

Odin merely closed his eyes focusing his powers as he fired off one large blast of energy with his left hand to block the attacks. The problem was however that while he was blocking the two attacks, Multiple, Dani, and Sunspot had resumed their charge. It was surprising as he formed another blast of energy and started to let out small blasts of energy to pelt the charging attackers.

"Multiple, I want you and your clones to do a dog pile; if he can't use his hands then he can't use his powers. That's his weaknesses, so let's use it." Dani spoke softly knowing that the clones would probably help her out in this.

Odin smiled faintly as the group still kept coming before whispering, "That's it, I may have knocked a few of you down but don't stop. Keep coming, get back up and keep coming."

Cannonball, Wolfsbane and X-23 were slowly starting to get back up and preparing to join the attack when Odin started to literally glow an eerie light blue color. The following wave of energy that followed cause the hair to stand on the back of Dani's neck as all of the clones, Sunspot, and herself were sent flying into the air. The clones landed with a hard thud on the ground and Sunspot had been caught by the combined efforts of Magma and Boom-Boom. Dani on the other hand was saved by the charging Cannonball when the eerie light finally faded.

'They did well but now its time to show them my best move and see if they are still willing to fight. This will decide everything, so let's see how far you are willing to go.' Odin thought a sphere of energy surrounding him when it started to shrink and close around his right hand. Sparks of energy flew off of his right hand as the others seemed to stare at him almost in awe or surprise about the technique.

"What's he doing? I've never seen him use that before, does anyone know what it is?" Dani asked a lot of no's and head shaking occurring.

"It's that strong attack of his but he's changed it some how, he told me about it a while back. This one's even stronger though because its power has been concentrated instead of spread out like it normally is." Magma started concern in her voice because she knew something about this move. "He made this move to deal with Reaper, which means it is probably the most powerful attack that he can manage. His control is so much greater then our own that he manipulates his power into this form."

Cannonball took a step forward before speaking, "Ah can tell your right, Ah don't know what we should do."

"We stand our ground and we don't give up. He's testing us for some reason, I don't think he'll use that attack not against us. We aren't his enemies; in fact I bet he will stand down very soon." Dani commented a small smile on her face as the action had came to a stand still.

The sound of a buzzer going off signaling the end of the exam caused everyone to look up and relax. The energy that Odin was collecting for his attack started to dissipate into the air and some of it being drawn back into his body. As the energy disappeared, the others watched the faint smile that appeared on his face.

Professor Xavier turned the microphone on so he could speak, "Very well done, Odin could you join us in the control room. I would ask that all of you wait down there for us to join you after we conference for a minutes."

"Of course Professor, I'll be there in a minute." Brandon stated running out of the danger room to join the others in the control room as the microphone was turned off.

Up in the control room silence had literally reigned as they watched the exercise. Even after the exercise nothing had really been spoken among the individuals that had watched what happened. Paige and Noriko had watched the older adults and the others there noticing how quiet they seemed to be but neither one wanted to break the silence.

"I can't believe how much they've grown for a while there I thought that they wouldn't grow any more. It seems all they needed though was the right person to motivate them to push themselves harder. I remember when they first started, they were like a bunch of kids, but now that's quite impressive." Scott commented, he remembered that before Brandon that the New Mutants didn't really have a set teacher due to their nature.

"If you say so soldier boy, but even I have to admit that some of them have some potential. Wouldn't you agree old man; you can see it too can't you? If I can see it, if Brandon can see it, then you must be able to see it." Alan asked which caused Logan to growl slightly in response.

As Logan was preparing a response of his own mostly out of irritation about the old man comments the door slid open to let Brandon into the room. Once more silence seemed to reign supreme as all eyes finally fell upon the young former marine. Professor Xavier started to smile as the young man took a seat next to him.

"Well done Brandon, you have made considerable progress in regards to the New Mutants. However, before we get into which ones will be joining the new team, I would like to know your answer to what I asked you yesterday." Professor Xavier spoke which quickly made him the center of attention.

"I am at your service of course, but I still don't feel like I would make a suitable member of that team. In all likely I think giving it a shot would be the best way to deal with it and if it doesn't work then I can return to my former status. I would appreciate it however, if we didn't announce this, today should be about them and what they have accomplished." Brandon began everyone nodding their heads in understanding. "Good I would like to recommend the following individuals for the new team. It was hard just choosing five of them that are ready because I think most of them could handle the responsibility now. If I had to choose though Dani, X-23, Sam, Amara, and Jaime are ready to be on the new team."

Logan seemed slightly surprised before he responded, "I can understand the first four marine but that last one, you sure about him. He may have been here for the same time but he's still just a kid when compared to the ones you didn't mention."

"Jaime might not be the same age but I can tell you his potential is incredible. I don't recommend him lightly; I do so because I feel he's ready for the next stage. If he's trained right he'll give Alan a run for his money, it all depends on how well you take advantage of how unique he is." Brandon replied causing his best friend to glance down at the young man.

'Give me a run for my money he might have potential but for him to say that he must have a lot of faith in the kid to say that. Hmm, that might make things interesting; maybe I should consider something...' Alan thought while continuing to look down at Jaime.

Professor Xavier had been going over a few things regarding the new team while the others talked. He had been looking at past data on the ones that had been recommended and finally he took into account the recommendations of their instructor. The comments about Jaime were very valid comments but it was clear the young man was quickly growing in potential.

"I have come to a decision regarding the new team, if the already chosen members and if Brandon and Logan could accompany me to make the announcement." Professor Xavier spoke as he rolled out of the room with the ones he asked to accompany him followed him out of the room.

"Alan, do you think what Brandon said was true?" Jean asked causing the man to just shrug his shoulders.

"Hmm, maybe…" Alan started when the door flung over and a very distressed looking Leah ran into the room.

"Major, there's a problem, I have a priority one message from command. She was pretty adamant that you see it right away sir," Leah stated slightly out of breath from having quickly delivered the paper form of the message.

She handed him the folded message and everyone could see the man's eyes narrow while he also clinched his left fist. Reading the message over and over again the man's irritation actually seemed to grow.

'SHIELD's prison was attacked supposedly by the Master and his forces, but no other news available from there. Looks like Fury instituted a communication black out in the area and no further info is available at this time. Wells is probably drooling at the mouth over this and no doubt the Joint Chiefs will act if any of the high level prisoners were freed. It also means if Wells starts moving there's no doubt the Friends of Humanity wont be far behind. Where the lead dumb ass goes the ignorant dumb asses follow after all, that's how this world works. Oh and look Kincaid's body turned up with a bullet hole in it and the military doesn't know how. Wonder how that happened, I should play the lotto with shit like this happening I'm a shoe in to win the jackpot.' Alan thought systematically and at times sarcastically going through various scenarios.

"Leah, how much do you have done?" Alan asked an icy and cold tone coming out of his voice.

"About 4 percent sir, it's a lot of information and to make matters worse I've only managed to find a few purchases from a company that is own by other dummy corporations that I finally tracked down as being owned by Fisk Industries." Leah answered knowing he was referring to the data that was stolen.

"Head back to the Leviathan and take the data with you. I don't care who you get or have to hire I want all of the data done in one week. Talk with her if you need additional help, she'll grant it in a heartbeat. The giants are starting to stir on the battlefield and they cast mighty long shadows. Looks like things are starting to get serious and advise the boss to set condition 2. I'll be there as soon as I take care of a few errands and pay a visit to Fisk Industries. Maybe if I'm lucky I'll land the lard ass whale know as Wilson Fisk and he can explain his business practices to me while I drag his fat good for nothing carcass to prison." Alan whispered to her after motioning her to come closer.

'This is developing into a shadow war and the Major always has had distaste for such things. A shadow war is a term that refers too unofficial wars that are fought without the general public knowing. Who are the giants that are beginning to stir, I don't understand that part but I guess I'll have to do this. I only hope for Fisk sake he doesn't run into the Major he appears to be in a very foul mood.' Leah thought nodding her head and quickly leaving the room.

Alan turned his attention to Scott and Jean before speaking again, "I want you two to give a message to Brandon. Tell him he has two months and also that the giants are beginning to stir. He'll know what both means, I've got to go now. One last thing, tell Xavier I'll take care of his little errand and I'll call him later with the specifics. He got lucky I'm in a bad mood and someone or something is going to suffer for pissing me off."

Scott and Jean merely nodded noticing the cold and icy demeanor that the normally pleasant man had as he left the room. The two then looked down at the New Mutants, who had been waiting patiently while the Professor had been delivering a speech commenting on how much they had improved and how many challenges they had over come. Brandon and Logan looked slightly out of place from the group as the Professor prepared the big announcement.

"I just want to reiterate one last time how proud I am of all of your work. I also want to say that you have done an excellent job with them Brandon. Now what I'm about to announce may come as a surprise but it is time that a new team was formed. One that is designed for students that are ready for more responsibilities but aren't quiet prepared to be X-men." Professor Xavier began the New Mutants listening attentively to what he was saying. "As such I would like to announce the following people will be assigned to the new team which will be under the combined instruction of Brandon and Logan. Jubilee, Bobby, Betsy, Amara, Sam, X-23, Dani, and finally Jaime will round out this team. Those of you that weren't chosen will be forming the cornerstone for the New Mutants so you can help them grow and eventually I have faith that you'll be joining this new team as well."

"Oh wow, I get to be on the new team. What are we going to be called, who's going to be our leader, are we going to be able to do cool missions without the X-men? Jaime questioned his mind was literally going a mile a minute while Ray and Roberto both looked at him slightly disappointed.

"All of those things depend solely on your new team kid, you'll come up with your own name, decide who your leader is, and depending on how you do then the Professor will decide your missions." Logan stated calmly he couldn't exactly blame the kid for being so excited about the situation.

As the team members for the new team gathered to discuss their new team, the others watched and listened with interest. A few names were bounced back and forth like X-Force, X-Factor, and X-Corps were the three heavily debated names. Surprisingly enough though only one name came up for the leadership position and that was Dani. She was mature, decisive, and intelligent making her perfect for the job despite her earlier protests to the contrary.

Dani took a step forward to announce their decision, "We are going to be taking on the name of X-Force. It's also been decided despite my objections that I would be the team leader."

"Very well X-Force, I welcome you to your new roles in the Institute. We are all going to be watching and expecting a lot from you. I know you will all try and work very hard because of the faith we have placed in you. This world is a dangerous place still but with all three of our teams we can make it a safer place for humans and mutants alike." Professor Xavier commented causing those in attendance to nod their heads in agreement.

The End of this Fic

Shadows of War

Chapter 1: Diverging Paths part 1

Plans are made to finally pull Tessa out of the Hellfire Club with Alan taking the lead while the X-men take on support roles. While that occurs Colonel Fury tries to save SHIELD from General Wells and his allies who are finally making his own move against Fury and mutants in general.


End file.
